The aim of this study was to document the breastfeeding practices, beliefs, and attitudes of periurban South African lactating mothers with infants younger than 6 months. None of the mothers (n = 115, mean age 26 +/- 6.3 years) reported exclusively breastfeeding their infants, with complementary breastfeeding being the most practiced (78%) feeding mode. Complementary foods were fed to 32% of infants by their first month of life. Perceived inadequate production of breast milk was the most common (90%) reason cited for adding foods and liquids to breastfeeds. Mothers valued use of traditional herbal preparations (muthi), with more than half (56%) of the infants having received their first dose of muthi before 1 month of age. Our study provides important data on breastfeeding practices of women living within resource-poor settings. Development of successful infant-feeding interventions aimed at promoting overall infant health can benefit from knowledge of these breastfeeding patterns.
Objective: To better understand the enabling and challenging factors impacting on infant feeding practices in communities with a high HIV prevalence. Design: Qualitative study, with data collected through in-depth interviews and observations of mothers, in addition to discussions with health-service providers. Setting: Urban settlement in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
Background Despite access to free antiretroviral therapy (ART) for all people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), noncompliance to treatment continues to be a significant challenge in Eswatini. Yet studies investigating barriers to ART adherence in Eswatini are scarce. Most notably, there is a lack of research regarding rural women in Eswatini, who are currently the country's most vulnerable to HIV infection. Therefore, the objective of the study is to investigate individual, household, and community level barriers to ART adherence among rural women living with HIV. Methods We conducted a qualitative study to investigate individual, household, and community level barriers to ART adherence. We conducted focus group discussions with HIV-infected women (n = 4) from rural villages in Eswatini, and in-depth interviews with healthcare workers (n = 8) serving the area clinics. Open and axial coding techniques were used for data analysis and interpreted within a social ecological framework. Results Our findings revealed several individual level barriers including hunger, side effects of ART, personal stress, lack of disclosure of HIV status, alcohol use, and forgetting to take ART. Lack of food, unemployment and scarcity of financial resources were identified as critical barriers at the household level. Community and institutional barriers encompassed factors related to health delivery such as lack of privacy, travel time, transportation costs, excessive alcohol use by healthcare workers, maltreatment, public and self-stigma, gossip, and long waits at clinics.
Background-World Health Organization advocates heat treatment of expressed breastmilk (EBM) as one method to reduce postnatal transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in developing countries. Flash-heat is a simple heat treatment method shown to inactivate cell-free HIV.
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