Infant feeding practice and associated factors of HIV positive mothers attending prevention of mother to child transmission and antiretroviral therapy clinics in Gondar Town health institutions, Northwest Ethiopia

Approximately 430,000 children under 15 years of age were newly infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in 2008, and more than 71% are living in sub-Saharan Africa [1]. Without intervention to prevent mother-to-child transmission, 30-45% of infants born to HIV-positive mothers in developing countries become infected during pregnancy, delivery and breastfeeding [2]. The availability of anti-retroviral therapy (ART) during the last trimester of pregnancy and delivery through prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) program reduces transmission of HIV during pregnancy, labor and delivery from 10% to 20% [3], but it does not solve the problem of infant feeding which is responsible for as much as 5-20% of infections [2]. In sub-Saharan Africa, mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV is responsible for about 90% of HIV infections in children, and about half of these pediatric infections are thought to have been acquired through breastfeeding [4].

The Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and two of its partners (UNICEF and WHO) recommend that HIV-infected mothers should avoid breastfeeding only when replacement feeding is affordable, feasible, acceptable, sustainable, and safe (AFASS). Non breast-fed children born to HIV positive women are at less risk of illness and death only if they can be ensured uninterrupted access to nutritionally adequate breast milk substitutes that are safely prepared [5]. Exclusive replacement feeding (ERF) can reduce HIV-transmission, but is also associated with morbidity related to diarrhoea and respiratory infections. Exclusive replacement (formula) feeding is the most widely used and effective method to prevent MTCT of HIV-1 through breastfeeding in resource-rich settings and is recommended in situations in which this is AFASS [6‐8].

Exclusive breast feeding by HIV-infected mother, when compared to partial breastfeeding or mixed breast feeding (MBF), has been shown to be associated with a reduced risk of transmission in the early months of postpartum [9], and may confer a continued lower risk of transmission in babies continuing to breastfeed from 6-18 months [10, 11]. According to the recent guidelines of WHO, when ARVs are not available, mothers should be counseled to exclusively breastfeed in the first six months of life and continue breastfeeding thereafter unless environmental and social circumstances are safe for, and supportive of, replacement feeding [12]. Mixed Breast feeding during the first month of life and breast feeding duration are strong determinants of HIV transmission [13]. The fact that EBF carries a significantly lower risk (almost half the risk) of MTCT of HIV than mixed feeding is not surprising because the beneficial immune factors of breast milk are probably counteracted by the damage to the infant's gut wall by contaminants or allergens in mixed feeds [14].

In a cross sectional study conducted in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the proportion of HIV positive mothers who fed their infants ERF, EBF and MBF were 46.8%, 30.6%, and 15.3%, respectively. The predictors for choosing ERF were mode of delivery, household income and disclosure of HIV status to spouse. The predictor for EBF was mode of delivery while for MBF, disclosure of HIV status to spouse, parental infant feeding attitude and infant illnesses were the predictors. Furthermore, sticking to mothers' informed safer feeding options is challenged by some social factors [15].

With the rising prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS, over 200,000 children under-five are HIV positive in Ethiopia. The risk of transmission varies with the duration of breastfeeding, but it is estimated to be about 10-20% for those breastfed for two years [16]. However there is a dearth of literature in the study area particularly in Gondar referral teaching hospital, which is supposed to serve around four millions people coming from and neighboring regions. Therefore, this study has assessed the infant feeding practice of HIV positive mothers including the determinants, and provide evidence-based information that can be used by concerned bodies so that mother to child transmission of HIV virus through breast feeding can be decreased.

In this study, the proportion of mothers practicing EBF (83.7%) for the first 6 months of age was comparatively higher than the findings reported from Nigeria (68.3%), Uganda (24%), India (44%) and South Africa (35.6%) [17‐20] and the proportions of mothers practicing ERF (5.7%) was lower than reported from South Africa (50%), India (44%), and Nigeria (31.7%) [17‐19]. This might be due to the culture of feeding habit of the Ethiopian mothers to their children than giving replacement feeding as well as the availability of resources to practice ERF. The proportion of mothers practicing EBF was also comparatively higher than what was reported from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (30.6%) [15]. The Ethiopian Ministry of Health guideline on infant feeding recommendations of HIV exposed infants recommends EBF for the first 6 months and introducing complementary feeding at 6 months and continues breastfeeding until 12-18 months [21]. The difference may be also explained by the fact that in both the South African and Nigerian studies, infant formula was supplied free of charge unlike in the present study. Deep-rooted family and community norms make it difficult for mothers in Ethiopia as in most developing countries to choose ERF. In fact, choosing to use replacement feed is equivalent to announcing their HIV status, and the consequences of this are far reaching and could involve violence and divorce [22]. About 87% of the mothers had disclosed their HIV status to their spouses, and 65.6% of the mothers had disclosed their status to their family members. This number is found to be higher than what was reported in Nigeria (50%) [19].

In multivariate analysis, disclosure of HIV status with their spouse, insufficient breast milk and occupational status were found to be independently associated with the recommended way of infant feeding practice. Mothers who disclose their HIV status to spouse were 7.7 times more likely to have the recommended way of infant feeding practice. Disclosure of HIV status greatly influenced infant feeding options of HIV positive mothers when the partner was aware of the HIV status of the mother and involved in the decision [23]. Having disclosed their status might have psychological benefits as they do not have to hide while formula feeding. Those daily laborers were 14.6 times more likely to have recommended way of infant feeding practice than government/private workers/merchants. Work overload may dispose merchants to practice MBF unconsciously.

The proportion of mothers practicing MBF (10.5%) for the first 6 months of age was almost in line with studies conducted in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (15.3%) and South Africa (12.4%) [15, 17], but lower than from India (29%) [18] and it was higher than what was reported from Cameroon (4.3%) [24]. By tradition, mothers may consider breast milk is not enough for child growth and intend to use mixed feeding even though they have been informed. Mixed breast feeding has been shown to damage the intestinal lining of the gut in infants [14], leading to an increased risk of HIV transmission through breast milk [9, 14]. In addition to MBF, duration of breast feeding is also strong determinant for HIV transmission through breast milk [13]. According to a study conducted in Zambia, early abrupt cessation of breast-feeding by HIV-infected women in a low-resource setting does not improve the rate of HIV-free survival among children born to HIV-infected mothers [25]. The recent guidelines of WHO stated that when ARVs are not available, mothers should be counseled to exclusively breastfeed in the first six months of life and continue breastfeeding thereafter unless environmental and social circumstances are safe for, and supportive of, replacement feeding [12]. Presence of insufficient breast milk was 85.7% times less likely to have recommended way of infant feeding practice. Due to the insufficiency of breast milk mothers might goes to mixed feeding.

In the present study, 193 (92.3%) of women knew that mother to child transmission of HIV virus can occur during pregnancy, delivery and breast milk feeding which is a higher percentage compared to the findings (70%) from a study done in South Africa [17]. This might be achieved due to the accessibility of mother support groups by preparing coffee ceremony for mothers in two weeks interval which is organized by NGO. However, without fostered counseling including information about the risks and benefits of breastfeeding, HIV-positive women may have made suboptimal infant feeding decisions (e.g., mixed feeding, underfeeding) based only on the knowledge that HIV can be transmitted by breastfeeding. In an effort to prevent HIV transmission to their infants, women may be unintentionally endangering their infants' health. This emphasizes the need for offering clear information about postpartum HIV transmission to all women seeking antenatal care.

Availability of supply, stigma of HIV/AIDS, insufficient breast milk and husband opposition were factors that influenced choice of infant feeding options by respondents. Higher percentage (13%) of study participants complained that stigma of HIV/AIDS status affect their infant feeding option although the percentage is lower than studies conducted in Nigeria (44%) [23, 26]. This might be due to the cultural difference in accepting HIV/AIDS in the people of each country.

The study findings are limited in terms of overall generalization due to the small study sample size and it was health institution based. There is a possibility that study participants who received counseling on recommended way of infant feeding practice may simply answer questions accurately. This bias may underestimate the proportion of mixed feeding practice. Maternal since-birth recall of feeding patterns was also used which has its own limitations of long recall. Despite these limitations, we believe that our study findings provide essential input on infant feeding decisions.

The present study showed and identified that higher proportion (89.5%) of the respondents used the recommended way of infant feeding practice. Mixed feeding (10.5%), an undesirable practice in infant feeding, in the first 6 months of age were also reported. Major determinants of infant feeding practice were found to be disclosure of HIV status with their spouse, insufficient breast milk and occupational status. However, further advanced clinical trial studies have to be conducted in order to see the effect of different infant feeding practice for maternal viral transmission through breast milk.