Factors associated with HIV-positive women carrying pregnancies to term.
OBJECTIVE
To determine predictors of HIV-positive women who choose to carry a pregnancy to term.


METHODS
We collected pregnancy data up to December 2008 on women who had attended the University Health Network Immunodeficiency Clinic in Toronto since 2000 and were < 50 years of age at the time of their first HIV-positive test. Data were included on all pregnancies, including those that occurred before the woman was known to be HIV positive or first attended the clinic.


RESULTS
Data were collected from a total of 341 women who were < 50 years of age at their first HIV-positive test. Of these women, 179 (52%) had a total of 484 pregnancies, and 110 of these pregnancies (23%) in 74 women were known to occur after the woman tested HIV positive. An additional 52 women (11%) were found to be HIV positive during the pregnancy. Predictors of a woman's carrying a pregnancy to term when HIV positive were age, region of maternal birth, number of previous live births, and pregnancy during the highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) era.


CONCLUSIONS
HIV-positive women are more likely to carry a pregnancy to term during the new HAART era than they were before this era. Younger African-born HIV-positive women who already have children are more likely than other HIV-positive women to choose to carry a pregnancy to term.
Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto ON; University Health Network, Toronto ON, Canada.
Janet
J
Raboud
Maggie
M
Li
Sandra
S
Blitz
Adriana
A
D'Aquila
Sherine
S
Sterling
Sharon
S
Walmsley
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006679:HIV Seropositivity; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D047929:Term Birth; D055815:Young Adult