Infant-feeding Practices among HIV-infected Mothers in an HIV-treatment Programme

Abstract

The transmission of HIV via breastmilk has led to various recommendations for HIV-infected mothers. In this study, the feeding practices of HIV-infected mothers in the first six months of their infants' lives were evaluated. In total, 103 consecutive mothers of children, aged 6-24 months, were evaluated for their feeding practices in the first six months of their infants' lives. The mothers were recruited in two cohorts based on their entry (PMTCT cohort) or non-entry (non-PMTCT cohort) to an HIV MTCT-prevention programme. Information obtained included maternal age, socioeconomic class, and the educational level attained. All the babies in the non-PMTCT cohort were breastfed compared to none in the PMTCT cohort. Infant formula was inadequately prepared for 77.42% of babies in the non-PMTCT cohort compared to 18.64% in the PMTCT cohort. The mixed-feeding rate was high (70.45 %) in the non-PMTCT cohort. Over 70% of babies in both the cohorts were bottle-fed. Voluntary counselling and testing services in the healthcare system should be strengthened. All mothers should receive infant-feeding counselling, with exclusive breastfeeding being encouraged in those with unknown HIV status.

PMTCT Programme reduced vertical transmission of HIV in Abuja, Nigeria

“…This is closely related to the transmission rates of 68.6% and 6.7% respectively obtained for those with no participation and those with full participation, reported by Okechukwu et al 8 in Gwagwalada Abuja. It is noteworthy that the overall rates of transmission quoted in the previous studies for those that were diagnosed early and had full participation in PMTCT 8,11 , are close to the overall rate of 6.4% obtained in this study. This, therefore clearly suggests a positive impact of the current intervention on PMTCT.…”

“…However, a higher rate of transmission of 70.4 % and 68.3 % respectively were reported in university of Benin Teaching Hospital 11 and Abuja 8 during the era of PMTCT programme. This was attributed to late detection of HIV in pregnancy and lack of full participation in the preventive interventions.…”

“…This was attributed to late detection of HIV in pregnancy and lack of full participation in the preventive interventions. Sadoh et al 11 in Benin reported 70.4% and 8.4% respectively in the non-PMTCT cohorts group who discovered their positive HIV status after delivery and had partial intervention and the PMTCT cohorts group who were diagnosed from prenatal period and had full preventive intervention respectively. This is closely related to the transmission rates of 68.6% and 6.7% respectively obtained for those with no participation and those with full participation, reported by Okechukwu et al 8 in Gwagwalada Abuja.…”

Infant Feeding Challenges Encountered by HIV Positive Mothers in Korogocho Slums, Nairobi, Kenya

“…Moreover, women of lower socio-economic status found it difficult to continue formula feeding when there was an interruption in the supply of free formula (Doherty et al, 2006 b). Similar results were reported from Kenya (Kiarie et al, 2004) and Nigeria (Sadoh et al, 2008). Besides the cost of formula, other socio-economic considerations including access to clean water and fuel for replacement food preparation, problems with replacement food preparation, electricity, and other infrastructure necessary for the safe and hygienic preparation of formula milk were reported by the mothers in this study.…”

“…Quantitative data was presented in the form of tables and textual summaries. Results from this study showed poor knowledge of appropriate infant methods as only 46 (44.7%) mothers were satisfied with the infant feeding counseling they had received from the health personnel. Poor clinic attendance by 61 (59.2%) of the mothers may have led to short and few sessions and it also affected the time of infant feeding thus the poor quality of counseling.…”