Population Council Research that makes a difference

The Council recently completed a qualitative study exploring the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) needs of women living with HIV in Mexico and the perspectives of their health care providers. Council researchers explored contraceptive use, pregnancy management decisions, barriers to abortion services, and, more broadly, the quality of SRH information and care received in participating medical facilities.

The study consisted of in-depth interviews with 31 women from four distinct regions (Baja California, Chiapas, Guanajuato, and Mexico City) and 11 providers (HIV specialists and Ob/Gyns). Three of the women were pregnant at the time of the interview, and 28 had been pregnant within the last five years.

Study findings indicate that most women had received very limited information on contraceptive options (i.e., condoms or tubal ligation only), and many had unplanned pregnancies. Most of the women decided to carry their pregnancies to term, despite fear of transmitting HIV to their infants. Some women revealed that they had been pressured by their providers to have an abortion, while another woman in the study who wanted an abortion was denied access by her provider. The information that most women received on preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV was quite basic and incomplete. The majority of the women experienced discrimination by families and communities as well as underlying problems of poverty, intimate partner violence, and substance abuse. Interviews with providers (especially non-HIV specialists) indicated a need on their part for more information on SRH care for women living with HIV.