“Mothering with HIV” HIV positive African American women living in the rural Deep South experiences with pregnancy and parenting

Although we continue to gain new insights from research focused on People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), there is paucity of research focused on PLWHA and the impact their positive status has on their parenting and their relationship with their children. Using grounded theory methods 16 HIV positive African American mothers living in rural South Central Georgia were interviewed about their experiences living with HIV. Mothering was a prevalent theme among 100% of participants, who were concerned with the emotional and physical well-being of their children and their ability to raise their children upon being informed of their HIV positive status. Participants revealed finding out that they would be mothers while simultaneously finding out they were HIV positive; guilt when their child also tested HIV positive and health problems among those children who tested negative. There was also a fear of disclosure and tumultuous relationships with their children among those who disclosed. All participants had a fear of dying or becoming too ill to raise their children. Participants lacked support in caring for their children during pregnancy and receiving guidance to care for their sick children. The rural Deep South residency of the women negatively impacted their ability to access resources. Among rural populations especially research needs to be conducted focusing on parenting among PLWHA, especially the mental, emotional and physical well-being of the parent and child in order to create more programs and support that can aid with parenting issues.