To tell or not to tell: South African women's disclosure of HIV status during pregnancy

Authors: Visser, Maretha¹; Neufeld, Sharon²; de Villiers, Annelize³; Makin, Jennifer⁴; Forsyth, Brian²

Source: AIDS Care, Volume 20, Number 9, October 2008 , pp. 1138-1145(8)

Publisher: Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group

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Abstract:

HIV-positive pregnant women often do not disclose their serostatus to their partners, family and friends, creating potential barriers to preventing sexual transmission to partners and mother-to-child transmission through breastfeeding. This research explores recently diagnosed HIV-positive pregnant women's reasons for disclosure and non-disclosure of serostatus to various members of their social networks, as well as the consequences of their disclosure. Data were collected through open-ended questions as part of a semi-structured interview with 293 recently diagnosed HIV-positive pregnant women recruited from antenatal clinics in two townships in Tshwane, South Africa. A content analysis of responses showed that women weighed fear of abandonment and discrimination against their desire to raise risk awareness and their need for support. Partners most often responded to disclosure with disbelief and shock, whereas parents frequently exhibited emotional distress, but were still supportive, as were other relatives and friends. The women subsequently experienced low levels of adverse consequences after disclosure. The results can assist healthcare providers in understanding the complexity of pregnant women's decisions to disclose to various members of their social networks and emphasize the need for continued counselling and support.

Keywords: disclosure; pregnant women; qualitative research; HIV+ women in Africa

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09540120701842779

Affiliations: 1: Department of Psychology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa 2: Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS, Yale University, New Haven, United States 3: Serithi project, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa 4: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa,Maternal and Infant Health Care Strategies, Medical Research Council, South Africa

Publication date: 2008-10-01

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To tell or not to tell: South African women's disclosure of HIV status during pregnancy

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