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Social support among HIV-positive and HIV-negative adolescents in Umlazi, South Africa: changes in family and partner relationships during pregnancy and the postpartum period
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Social support among HIV-positive and HIV-negative adolescents in Umlazi, South Africa: changes in family and partner relationships during pregnancy and the postpartum period

Lauren M Hill, Suzanne Maman, Allison K Groves and Dhayendre Moodley
BMC pregnancy and childbirth, v 15(1), pp 117-117
17 May 2015
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-015-0542-z
PMID: 25982187
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
url
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-015-0542-zView
Published, Version of Record (VoR) Open

Abstract

Adolescent Case-Control Studies Disclosure Family Relations Female HIV Infections Humans Interpersonal Relations Peer Group Postpartum Period Pregnancy Pregnancy Complications, Infectious Pregnancy in Adolescence Qualitative Research Sexual Partners Social Support South Africa Stress, Psychological
Pregnancy is common among adolescents in South Africa, yet the social experiences of adolescents during the pregnancy and postpartum period remain understudied in this context. We aimed to explore how adolescent women's discovery and disclosure of both their pregnancy and HIV status affected their relationships with family members and sexual partners, with a particular focus on whether and how support changed throughout this time period. We conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews with 15 HIV-positive and HIV-negative adolescent women who were either pregnant or had delivered in the last 18 months from one urban clinic in Umlazi, South Africa. Interviews were audiotaped, transcribed, translated, and coded for analysis. Young women described stress and instability in their relationships with family and partners during pregnancy and the postpartum period, though prior to and during HIV-status disclosure women generally experienced less stress than in disclosing their pregnancy to family members and partners. After a destabilizing period immediately following pregnancy disclosure, families became and remained the primary source of material and emotional support for the young women. Women discussed heightened closeness with their partners during pregnancy, but few women had close relationships with their partners postpartum. Support experiences did not differ by HIV status. Programs should be aware of the relative importance of pregnancy-related concerns over HIV-related concerns in this population of young women. Engaging family members is critical in ensuring social support for this population of young pregnant women, and in encouraging timely initiation of antenatal care.

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51 citations in Web of Science
51 citations in Scopus

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#3 Good Health and Well-Being

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
International collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Obstetrics & Gynecology
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