HIV/Maternal health integration

Pregnant and post-partum adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa experience inferior outcomes along the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) cascade compared to their adult counterparts. Yet, despite this inequality in outcomes, scarce data from the region describe AGYW perspectives to inform adolescent-sensitive PMTCT programming. In this paper, we report findings from formative implementation research examining barriers to, and facilitators of, PMTCT care for HIV-infected AGYW in Malawi, and explore strategies for adapting the mothers2mothers (m2m) Mentor Mother Model to better meet AGYW service delivery-related needs and preferences.

Poor retention in the prevention of women in prevention of vertical transmission programs remains a formidable common setback in elimination of HIV/AIDS. It creates new problems such as poor health outcomes and increased incidence of vertical transmission of HIV. There is a dearth of qualitative information to explain poor retention of women in prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) programs in Zimbabwe. The purpose of the study was to explore the enablers and barriers of retention of women in PMTCT programs.

The Sub-Saharan Africa region still remains the epicentre of the global HIV/AIDS epidemic. With regards to new paediatric HIV infections, almost 90% of new HIV infections are among children (aged 0-14 years), largely through mother to child transmission. Male Partner Involvement in Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission programmes is now strongly advocated as being key in improving infant outcomes. This study describes the role of Male Partner Involvement on infant HIV infection and mortality survival in the first year among HIV-exposed infants born from HIV positive mothers.

Uganda's maternal and newborn mortality remains high at 336 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births and 27 newborn deaths per 1,000 live births. The Saving Mothers, Giving Life (SMGL) initiative launched in 2012 by the U.S. government and partners, with funding from the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, focused on reducing maternal and newborn deaths in Uganda and Zambia by addressing the 3 major delays associated with maternal and newborn deaths. In Uganda, SMGL was implemented in 2 phases. Phase 1 was a proof-of-concept demonstration in 4 districts of Western Uganda (2012 to 2014). Phase 2 involved scaling up best practices from Phase 1 to new sites in Northern Uganda (2014 to 2017).

Linear growth retardation is the most dominant nutritional problem globally. We aimed to describe linear growth trajectory among infants under 2 years of age using the WHO growth velocity standards.

Psychosocial risks during pregnancy impact maternal health in resource-limited settings, and HIV-positive women often bear a heavy burden of these factors. This study sought to use network modeling to characterize co-occurring psychosocial risks to maternal and child health among at-risk pregnant women.