Factors Influencing the Desire to Have a Baby Among Mothers on ARV Drugs Attending the ART Clinic in Mekelle Hospital

Abstract

Backgroundá¡ With the introduction of HAART there has been dramatic reduction in mortality and morbidity, quality of life has been changed and new infections have dropped markedly. Most recently fertility issue in HIV positive men and women are becoming increasingly important. Advance in treatment such as zidovudine and other drugs together with cesarean section and breast milk substitution has decreased vertical transmission to about 2%. This makes parenting a viable option in persons infected with the virus. Despite the growing importance of fertility issues for HIV infected women, little is known about their actual fertility desires and intentions.Threrfore,our study was aimed to measure the determinants  that influence the fertility desire among HIV positive people who are on follow  up at HIV/AIDS clinic in mekelle hospital.

Material and Methodsá¡ A cross sectional study will be conducted in Mekelle hospital ART clinic. The sample size was determined using a single population proportion formula and taking a P value less than 0.5 and 95 confidence interval and 5% margin of error and was found to be 364.Collected data will be analyzed using SPSS version 16.0.

Results: 45.9% of all respondents had desire for children. The main determinants of desire for children were found to be older age (>40) ,who have three or more children, not in relation ship and women. ART use, Income and occupation were found to have no effect on fertility.

Conclusion: There was a relatively high rate of desire for children compared to studies done els where in Ethiopia and the determinants were very much different from the determinants found in othere ethiopean studies. A further research was recommended to identify possible explanations for this determinant.

Keywords: Antiretroviral terapy, fertility, HIV, sociodemography

Cite this Article

Abadi   Leul  Welderufael, Hiwet Tesfay, Birhane Alem   Berihu. Factors Influencing the Desire to Have a Baby Among Mothers on ARV Drugs Attending the ART Clinic in Mekelle Hospital. Research & Reviews: Journal of Immunology. 2017; 7(1): 9–17p.