Pregnancy Intention in the Context of HIV/AIDS in South Africa

Background: The dramatic spread of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in South Africa has resulted in the largest population of HIV-afflicted people in the world. Perinatal transmission of HIV from mother to child, during pregnancy, delivery, or breastfeeding, is one of the driving forces of the epidemic in South Africa and an obvious target for intervention. Without preventive interventions approximately 35% of children born to HIV infected women will contract the virus. Thus, it is vitally important to understand how women, men, and couples make decisions about becoming pregnant so that interventions to reduce perinatal transmission can be developed.

Methods: Using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) as the conceptual framework we will evaluate factors affecting pregnancy intention in the context of HIV. We will conduct six focus groups in June, 2007 among women and men in rural KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. These focus groups will assess the components of the TPB: attitude towards pregnancy in general, and in the context of HIV in particular, subjective norms (perceived views of other significant people towards the behavior), and perceived behavioral control (the perceived influence of facilitators and barriers to the behavior). In particular, we are interested in the perceived power of women to control contraceptive use and their partners' use of condoms. Understanding pregnancy intention in this way may lead to improvements in maternal and child health outcomes and an eventual diminution of HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa.

Results and Conclusions from the focus groups will be presented.