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HIV interventions in pregnancy: the views of HIV positive women
Author(s) -
Sherr Lorraine,
Barnes J,
Johnson Margaret A
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
clinical psychology and psychotherapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.315
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1099-0879
pISSN - 1063-3995
DOI - 10.1002/1099-0879(200011)7:5<385::aid-cpp271>3.0.co;2-5
Subject(s) - psychological intervention , breastfeeding , pregnancy , anxiety , medicine , intervention (counseling) , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , family medicine , psychology , psychiatry , pediatrics , genetics , biology
This study examined pregnancy intentions and appraisal of interventions for HIV positive women ( n = 40 – 71% response rate), 43% of whom already had children—the majority (70%) born prior to HIV diagnosis. A consecutive sample of HIV positive women ( n = 56) attending a London hospital outpatient clinic were asked to complete a structured questionnaire on pregnancy intentions and views on current interventions for reduction of vertical transmission. 18% were planning pregnancies and a further 30% were undecided, with 72.5% stating that HIV played a role in their childbearing decisions. When questioned about various interventions currently available, women were unsure, relatively uninformed and desired information. Anxiety levels were relatively high for all interventions with few promoting reassurance. Avoidance of breastfeeding caused the lowest anxiety while AZT administration promoted the highest. For many women HIV reduced their willingness to conceive but over three‐quarters would want a child if an intervention were available to remove vertical transmission risks and a quarter would consider a pregnancy associated with an experiment to test a new intervention. Systematic ethnic differences were recorded with women who described themselves as black being more likely to consider AZT and more anxious about both breastfeeding avoidance and cesarean section delivery. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.