MHTF Quarterly, Issue 2: Maternal Health and HIV
 

In recent years, the world has seen significant reductions in maternal mortality. However, much work remains to be done in order to make preventable maternal deaths an issue of the past. To achieve this goal, the global health and development communities must focus their efforts on the leading causes of maternal death around the world.
 
According to a recent study (pdf), pregnant women living with HIV are eight times more likely to die than women without HIV. Additionally, approximately a quarter of deaths during pregnancy and the post-partum period in sub-Saharan Africa are attributable to HIV. Women and girls are increasingly and disproportionately affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic and now comprise over half of those living with HIV. The burden of HIV and AIDS among women of reproductive age in sub-Saharan Africa is a critical factor limiting progress towards the elimination of preventable maternal mortality.  
 
As the global community discusses bold visions for new targets to reduce maternal mortality, the HIV and maternal health communities are coming together to share knowledge and build a path to improved, women-centered, evidence-based policies and programming.
 
In this edition of the MHTF Quarterly, we share several resources for learning more about this critical issue. Many of the resources are outputs of recent collaborations between the maternal health and HIV communities.

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Featured Resources

• Technical Summary: Maternal Mortality and HIV
  This resource, developed by the MHTF and CDC, calls for researchers, policymakers and healthcare providers to redouble efforts to address the intersections between HIV and poor maternal health outcomes and provides needed evidence for moving forward. Key research priorities, established at the recent Maternal Health, HIV and AIDS technical meeting, are outlined.
  Download Technical Summary: Maternal Mortality and HIV (pdf).

• Working Paper: Research and Evaluation Agenda for Maternal Health and HIV in sub-Saharan Africa
  This working paper, developed by the MHTF and CDC, synthesizes existing knowledge and frames priority research questions that must be answered to improve maternal health in the context of sub-Saharan Africa’s HIV pandemic. It provides guidance to researchers, programmers and policymakers about how to advance research and evaluation relevant for policy, programs and service delivery in the short- and medium-term.
  Download Research and Evaluation Agenda for Maternal Health and HIV in sub-Saharan Africa (pdf).

Recent publications

• HIV Treatment Keeps A Family Together And Growing In Kenya
  National Public Radio
• HIV and Mothers Milk: As Luck Would Have It
  The Economist
• Fight Against AIDS Makes ‘Dramatic’ Progress, Says U.N.
  TIME Health and Family

• Impact of HIV Exposure on Health Outcomes in HIV-Negative Infants Born to HIV-Positive Mothers in Sub-Saharan Africa.
  Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes
• Women's Preferences Regarding Infant or Maternal Antiretroviral Prophylaxis for Prevention of Mother-To-Child Transmission of HIV during Breastfeeding and Their Views on Option B+ in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
  PLOS ONE
• Expanding contraceptive options for PMTCT clients: a mixed methods implementation study in Cape Town, South Africa
  Reproductive Health
• Awareness and knowledge on timing of mother-to-child transmission of HIV among antenatal care attending women in Southern Ethiopia: a cross sectional study
  Reproductive Health
• Midwives' perspectives on male participation in PMTCT of HIV and how they can support it in Lusaka, Zambia
  Midwifery
• Should women with HIV, or at high risk of contracting HIV, use progestogen-containing contraception?
  BMJ
• Systematic review of the proportion of pregnancy-related deaths attributed to HIV in population-based studies in sub-Saharan Africa
  Tropical Medicine and International Health
• Exclusive breastfeeding prenatal intentions among HIV-positive mothers in Blantyre, Malawi: a correlation study
  BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
• HIV and the risk of direct obstetric complications: A systematic review and meta-analysis
  PLOS ONE
• Family planning counseling for women living with HIV: a systematic review of the evidence of effectiveness on contraceptive uptake and pregnancy incidence, 1990 to 2011
  BMC Public Health

Videos

• Maternal Health and HIV: Global Priorities for Research and Action
  A recent global policy discussion convened at the Woodrow Wilson Center
• Women at the crossroads: HIV, reproductive health, maternal mortality, and child health
  A presentation by Wafaa El-Sadr of Columbia University at the recent Maternal Health, HIV and AIDS technical meeting
• Contribution of HIV to pregnancy-related mortality
  A presentation by Clara Calvert of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine at the recent Maternal Health, HIV and AIDS technical meeting
• Safe conception and preconception planning, counseling, and care
  A presentation by Jean Anderson of Johns Hopkins Center for Global Health and Jhpiego at the recent Maternal Health, HIV and AIDS technical meeting
• Reproductive health decision-making among women living with HIV
  A presentation by Lisa Messersmith of Boston University School of Public Health at the recent Maternal Health, HIV and AIDS technical meeting
• Ethical and medical considerations and issues
  A presentation by Anna Coutsoudis of University of Kwazulu Natal at the recent Maternal Health, HIV and AIDS technical meeting

View more videos from the Maternal Health, HIV and AIDS technical meeting.

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Resources

• Toolkit for expanding and simplifying treatment for pregnant women living with HIV: Managing the transition to Option B/B+ 
  Interagency Task Team, UNICEF, and WHO
• Family planning and Reproductive Health for People Living with HIV
  Global Health eLearning Center

Browse more technical resources.

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MHTF Blog

Visit the MHTF’s Maternal Health, HIV and AIDS blog series to learn about recent trends, perspectives, and lessons-learned from colleagues working around the world to address the critical connections between maternal health, HIV and AIDS. Join the conversation and share a guest blog post about your work on this issue. Contact Kate Mitchell for more information on contributing to the MHTF Blog.

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More from the MHTF

Twitter
Stay up-to-date with the latest news about maternal health and HIV. Follow this list of expert tweeters on the topic of maternal health and HIV, curated by the MHTF.

The MHTF Maternal Health, HIV, and AIDS Topic Page
Visit the MHTF’s regularly updated topic page on Maternal Health, HIV, and AIDS to explore additional resources, recent publications, videos, blog posts, and links to organizations working on the issue.

Maternal Health Dialogue
Earlier this month, as part of the Advancing Dialogue on Maternal Health series—a partnership between the MHTF, the Woodrow Wilson Center and UNFPA—the MHTF participated in a policy dialogue focused on maternal health and HIV. The event consisted of two panels: The first panel focused on the new research and evaluation agenda for maternal health and HIV while the second panel focused on the connections between HIV anti-stigma efforts and programs aimed at preventing disrespect and abuse during childbirth. Learn more about this event here, including video and related documents.

Convening critical voices
In June 2013, the MHTF collaborated with USAID and the CDC to convene a technical meeting, Maternal Health, HIV and AIDS: Examining Research through a Programmatic Lens, in Boston, Massachusetts. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss emerging research linking maternal health and HIV, identify research gaps, and consider programmatic implications, with a focus on sub-Saharan Africa.
 
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Contact us! 

The MHTF is always looking for new resources, research, perspectives and news on this important issue. The MHTF welcomes your feedback and any resources you’d like to share! Please contact Kate Mitchell with comments, suggestions and questions.

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