Relevance of sociodemographic characteristics in care of HIV reactive pregnant women in the context of upscaled antiretrovial therapy in India

Background: The burden of HIV and AIDS comes with social, monetary and health related consequences. HIV is reported to be a pandemic, but the maximum burden of the disease is in the low and middle income \ countries. In obstetric context, sociodemographic factors influence health seeking, compliance and adherence to the advised regimen. These determine vertical transmission. Present study was undertaken to study the demographic characteristics among pregnant and postpartum HIV positive women, to study the high risk obstetric conditions, morbidities and obstetric outcome, among the women, to study the neonatal outcomes among HIV reactive women and to study the postnatal choices and compliance in these women.Methods: The study was conducted after approval from the institutional ethics committee. All antenatal patients delivering at the institute in the one and a half year of study duration, who consented to be a part of the study, were enrolled in the study. The mother-baby pair was followed up for six weeks postpartum.Results: Eighty patients formed the study cohort as per the inclusion criteria. 44% belonged to the age group of 26-30 years. 56.2% had attended up to secondary schooling, 55% belonged to class III of the Kuppuswamy socio-economic class, 96.2% were married. 91.2% were homemakers. 41.8% spouses were seropositive, 25.3% spouses were not willing to be tested. 75% were registered pregnancies out of which 56% had registered before 20 weeks of gestation. 25% of neonates weighed between 2.7-2.9 kg closely followed by those more than 3 kg. Fifty-four patients opted for top feeding (66.7%). Seven mother-baby pair did not follow-up.Conclusions: Social class and educational status play a vital role in establishing awareness and ensuring the antenatal care and compliance. Empathetic, inclusive and responsive by health care providers in convincing women to get tested goes a long way