Horizons | Research Summary| Infant Feeding Counseling Within Kenyan and Zambian PMTCT Services: How Well Does It Promote Good Feeding Practices?

RESEARCH SUMMARY

December 2003

Infant Feeding Counseling Within Kenyan and Zambian PMTCT Services: How Well Does It Promote Good Feeding Practices?

Recommendations

Infant feeding continues to be a particularly challenging component of PMTCT programs. In such settings as Kenya and Zambia, where half of all women breastfeed their children for 18 months and longer, a significant proportion of HIV transmission—up to 40 percent—can occur through breastfeeding. Clearly, PMTCT programs need to intensify their efforts to provide mothers with infant feeding counseling and support.

The results of these operations research and evaluation studies suggest several actions providers and program managers should take to ensure that women are providing optimal nutrition to their infants while safeguarding them from HIV:

Reinforce the importance of exclusive breastfeeding when breastfeeding is the chosen option.
Extend infant feeding counseling beyond antenatal care visits. Follow up in the postpartum period, when women are making decisions about how to feed their infants and grappling with the implementation of their choices.
Identify, test, and promote strategies for helping HIV-positive women wean their infants by four to six months of age. Given the significance of breast milk transmission of HIV, there is a need for policymakers to explore options for providing acceptable and safe replacement feeds.
Foster peer support in the community by facilitating community-based support groups and by training and supporting peer counselors to create an environment where women who choose to exclusively breastfeed or use infant formula will not be stigmatized.

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