Women's Attitudes towards Motherhood and Abortion for HIV-positive Pregnant Women in Zambia and Nigeria

Given the stigma surrounding pregnancy for HIV-positive women, this study seeks to describe stigmatizing attitudes towards each possible elective outcome of an HIV-positive woman's pregnancy: having an abortion or giving birth. Data come from interviews conducted in 2009 with a random sample of reproductive-aged women, 1278 women in Zambia and 1220 women in Nigeria. Bivariate and multivariate analyses examine associations between respondent characteristics and stigmatizing attitudes towards motherhood and abortion for HIV-positive pregnant women. In Zambia, a country with an HIV prevalence of 14.3%, respondents reported highly stigmatizing attitudes towards abortion for HIV-positive pregnant women. Higher education was associated with more stigmatizing attitudes towards both motherhood and abortion for HIV-positive pregnant women. No perceived risk of contracting HIV was associated with more stigmatizing attitudes towards motherhood (AOR = 1.5, p <0.05) and less stigmatizing attitudes towards abortion for HIV-positive women (AOR = 0.6, p <0.01). In Nigeria, a country with lower HIV prevalence (4.6%), respondents reported less stigmatizing attitudes towards abortion for HIV-positive pregnant women as compared to Zambian women. Higher education was associated with less stigmatizing attitudes towards both motherhood and abortion for HIV-positive pregnant women. Perceived risk of contracting HIV was not associated with any differences in stigmatizing attitudes towards either motherhood or abortion for HIV-positive pregnant women. Education influences stigma felt towards pregnancy outcomes for HIV-positive pregnant women in both Zambia and Nigeria; however, it influences stigma differently in the two countries. Women's perceived risk of HIV factors into these attitudes in Zambia only.