Alexandra Clinic staff are concerned about an increase in the number of HIV positive women admitted for childbirth.
This was said by Phindile Nkosi, maternity unit manager at the clinic which conducts about 200 deliveries per month. Nkosi said the clinic admitted more than 15 pregnant women for delivery daily, with five or more of them HIV positive and on treatment. In addition she said the ante-natal unit attended to newly diagnosed cases of HIV positive pregnant women at different stages of pregnancy every month.
Nkosi said the HIV positive women stated that they planned their pregnancies for when their viral loads were low. “They seem unconcerned about the risk of infection and re-infection by continuing to engage in unprotected sex,” she said.
Nkosi suggested a variety of reasons for this. Women did not disclose their status to their partners to trap the men into marriage or cohabitation for financial security, or to access social grants. “The culture of poverty plays a major role and many of them do this for survival,” she stressed.
Nkosi added that others chose to get into polygamous marriages knowing the positive status of their husbands who cohabitate with other women due to work commitments. This she said endangered the women who due to financial dependency had no power to negotiate for their health rights.
She suggested a need for the clinic and human rights organisations to engage with traditional and religious leaders to encourage their members to use protective measures where one partner was known to be HIV positive.
Nkosi further suggested that female condoms should also be made freely available as are male condoms.
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