ArticleBMC pregnancy and childbirth2014
Maternal and health care workers' perceptions of the effects of exclusive breastfeeding by HIV positive mothers on maternal and infant health in Blantyre, Malawi.
Article in BMC pregnancy and childbirth, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Barriers and facilitators for early and exclusive breastfeeding in health facilities in Sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review.Global health research and policy · 2021Pooled it
- Correlates of adherence to exclusive breastfeeding while on anti-retroviral therapy among mothers living with HIV in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.The Pan African medical journal · 2025Article
- "I Have to Stand Up on My Own and Do the Best I Can for My Kids"AIDS and behavior · 2024Article
- Barriers to exclusive breastfeeding practice among HIV-positive mothers in Tanzania. An exploratory qualitative study.PloS one · 2024Article
- Infant and Young Child Feeding in the Context of HIV:medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2023Article
- Male Partners' Roles in Infant Feeding Practices: Perspectives of Black Mothers Living with HIV in Three Countries.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Exploring infant feeding practices and associated factors among HIV-positive mothers attending early infant diagnosis clinic in Northern Uganda.Epidemiology and infection · 2022Article
- Are prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission service providers acquainted with national guideline recommendations? A cross-sectional study of primary health care centers in Lagos, Nigeria.BMC health services research · 2022Article
- Reasons for the Early Introduction of Complementary Feeding to HIV-Exposed Infants in the Eastern Cape, South Africa: An Exploratory Qualitative Study.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2020Article
- An educational intervention to update health workers about HIV and infant feeding.Maternal & child nutrition · 2020Article
- A realist review of infant feeding counselling to increase exclusive breastfeeding by HIV-positive women in sub Saharan-Africa: what works for whom and in what contexts.BMC public health · 2019Review
- HIV-positive Malawian women with young children prefer overweight body sizes and link underweight body size with inability to exclusively breastfeed.Maternal & child nutrition · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundHIV-positive mothers are likely to exclusively breastfeed if they perceive exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) beneficial to them and their infants. Nevertheless, very little is known in Malawi about HIV-positive mothers' perceptions regarding EBF. In order to effectively promote EBF among these mothers, it is important to first understand their perceptions on benefits of exclusive breastfeeding. This study therefore, explored maternal and health care workers' perceptions of the effects of exclusive breastfeeding on HIV-positive mothers' health and that of their infants.
methodsThis was a qualitative study within a larger project. Face-to-face in-depth interviews and focus group discussions using a semi- structured interview and focus group guide were conducted. Sixteen HIV-positive breastfeeding mothers, between 18 and 35 years old, were interviewed and data saturation was achieved. Two focus group discussions (FGDs) comprising of five and six adult women of unknown HIV status who were personal assistants to maternity patients, and one FGD with five nurse-midwives working in the maternity wards of Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre, Malawi, were also conducted. Thematic content data analysis was utilized.
resultsThe study revealed more positive than negative perceived effects of exclusive breastfeeding. However, the fear of transmitting HIV to infants through breast milk featured strongly in the study participants' reports including those of the nurse-midwives. Only one nurse-midwife and a few HIV-positive mothers believed that EBF prevents mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Furthermore, participants, especially the HIV-positive mothers felt that exclusive breastfeeding leads to maternal ill- health and would accelerate their progression to full blown AIDS.
conclusionWhile most participants considered exclusive breastfeeding as an important component of the wellbeing of their infants' health, they did not share the worldwide acknowledged benefits of exclusive breastfeeding in the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV. These results suggest a need for more breastfeeding education for all mothers, communities and nurse-midwives involved in breastfeeding counseling in the context of HIV infection. Maternal wellbeing promotion activities such as nutrition supplementation need to be included in all PMTCT of HIV programs.
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