Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Intimate Partner Violence Against HIV-Positive Women is Associated with Sub-Optimal Infant Feeding Practices in Lusaka, Zambia

  • Published:
Maternal and Child Health Journal Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objectives The aim of this study is to determine how intimate partner violence against HIV-positive women affects safe infant feeding practices in Lusaka, Zambia. Methods A cross-sectional face-to-face survey was conducted with 320 married postpartum women at a large public health center in Lusaka, Zambia, in 2014. Variables were measured using previously validated instruments from the Demographic and Health Survey. Data were analyzed using simple and multivariate logistic regression in Stata 12. Results Thirty-seven percent of women report early mixed infant feeding prior to six months. Women who experienced intimate partner violence have 2.8 higher adjusted odds of early mixed infant feeding (p < 0.001). Women who experienced emotional violence, specifically, have 1.9 higher adjusted odds of early mixed infant feeding (p < 0.05), while women who experienced sexual violence have 2.3 higher adjusted odds (p < 0.01). There is also a dose–response relationship between IPV and early mixed infant feeding (p < 0.05). Lastly, disclosing one’s HIV-positive status to the husband is associated with at least 67 % lower adjusted odds of early mixed feeding (p < 0.05). Conclusions Intimate partner violence against HIV-positive women, in particular emotional and sexual violence, increases the likelihood of early mixed infant feeding, putting infants at greater risk for both mother-to-child transmission of HIV and other infant morbidities. Intimate partner violence should thus be given increased attention within the context of infant feeding and HIV in sub-Saharan Africa.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bahl, R., Frost, C., Kirkwood, B. R., Edmond, K., Martines, J., Bhandari, N., et al. (2005). Infant feeding patterns and risks of death and hospitalization in the first half of infancy: Multicentre cohort study. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 83(6), 418–426.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Coovadia, H. M., Rollins, N. C., Bland, R. M., Little, K., Coutsoudis, A., Bennish, M. L., et al. (2007). Mother-to-child transmission of HIV-1 infection during exclusive breastfeeding in the first 6 months of life: An intervention cohort study. Lancet, 369(9567), 1107–1116. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(07)60283-9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Coutsoudis, A., Pillay, K., Kuhn, L., Spooner, E., Tsai, W. Y., & Coovadia, H. M. (2001). Method of feeding and transmission of HIV-1 from mothers to children by 15 months of age: Prospective cohort study from Durban, South Africa. AIDS, 15(3), 379–387.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • CSO and Macro International Inc. (2009). Zambia Demographic and Health Survey 2007. Calverton, Maryland, USA: Central Statistical Office (CSO), Ministry of Health (MOH), Tropical Diseases Research Centre (TDRC), University of Zambia, & Macro International Inc.

  • Doherty, T., Chopra, M., Jackson, D., Goga, A., Colvin, M., & Persson, L. A. (2007). Effectiveness of the WHO/UNICEF guidelines on infant feeding for HIV-positive women: Results from a prospective cohort study in South Africa. AIDS, 21(13), 1791–1797. doi:10.1097/QAD.0b013e32827b1462.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Doherty, T., Chopra, M., Nkonki, L., Jackson, D., & Persson, L. A. (2006). A longitudinal qualitative study of infant-feeding decision making and practices among HIV-positive women in South Africa. Journal of Nutrition, 136(9), 2421–2426.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ellsberg, M., Jansen, H. A., Heise, L., Watts, C. H., & Garcia-Moreno, C. (2008). Intimate partner violence and women’s physical and mental health in the WHO multi-country study on women’s health and domestic violence: An observational study. The Lancet, 371(9619), 1165–1172. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(08)60522-X.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fadnes, L. T., Engebretsen, I. M., Moland, K. M., Nankunda, J., Tumwine, J. K., & Tylleskar, T. (2010). Infant feeding counselling in Uganda in a changing environment with focus on the general population and HIV-positive mothers—A mixed method approach. BMC Health Services Research, 10, 260. doi:10.1186/1472-6963-10-260.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Farquhar, C., Mbori-Ngacha, D. A., Bosire, R. K., Nduati, R. W., Kreiss, J. K., & John, G. C. (2001). Partner notification by HIV-1 seropositive pregnant women: association with infant feeding decisions. AIDS, 15(6), 815–817.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Faul, F., Erdfelder, E., Lang, A. G., & Buchner, A. (2007). G*Power 3: a flexible statistical power analysis program for the social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences. Behavioral Research Methods, 39(2), 175–191.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Filmer, D., & Pritchett, L. (2001). Estimating wealth effect without expenditure data or tears: An application to educational enrollments in states of India. Demography, 38, 115–132.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Iliff, P. J., Piwoz, E. G., Tavengwa, N. V., Zunguza, C. D., Marinda, E. T., Nathoo, K. J., et al. (2005). Early exclusive breastfeeding reduces the risk of postnatal HIV-1 transmission and increases HIV-free survival. AIDS, 19(7), 699–708.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Karamagi, C. A., Tumwine, J. K., Tylleskar, T., & Heggenhougen, K. (2007). Intimate partner violence and infant morbidity: Evidence of an association from a population-based study in eastern Uganda in 2003. BMC Pediatrics, 7, 34. doi:10.1186/1471-2431-7-34.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Kendall-Tackett, K. A. (2007). Violence against women and the perinatal period: The impact of lifetime violence and abuse on pregnancy, postpartum, and breastfeeding. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 8(3), 344–353.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kimani-Murage, E. W., Wekesah, F., Wanjohi, M., Kyobutungi, C., Ezeh, A. C., Musoke, R. N., et al. (2014). Factors affecting actualisation of the WHO breastfeeding recommendations in urban poor settings in Kenya. Matern Child Nutr,. doi:10.1111/mcn.12161.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Klingelhafer, S. K. (2007). Sexual abuse and breastfeeding. Journal of Human Lactation, 23(2), 194–197.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kumar, D., Goel, N. K., Mittal, P. C., & Misra, P. (2006). Influence of infant-feeding practices on nutritional status of under-five children. Indian Journal of Pediatrics, 73(5), 417–421.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lawrence, R. A., & Lawrence, R. A. (1985). Breastfeeding, a guide for the medical profession (2nd ed.). St. Louis: Mosby.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levendosky, A. A., Huth-Bocks, A. C., Shapiro, D. L., & Semel, M. A. (2003). The impact of domestic violence on the maternal child relationship and preschool-age children’s functioning. Journal of Family Psychology, 17(3), 275–287.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Madiba, S., & Letsoalo, R. (2013). HIV disclosure to partners and family among women enrolled in prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV program: Implications for infant feeding in poor resourced communities in South Africa. Global Journal of Health Science, 5(4), 1–13. doi:10.5539/gjhs.v5n4p1.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Maman, S., Mbwambo, J., Hogan, N. M., Kilonzo, G. P., & Sweat, M. (2001). Women’s barriers to HIV-1 testing and disclosure: Challenges for HIV-1 voluntary counselling and testing. AIDS Care, 13(5), 595–603. doi:10.1080/09540120120063223.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Misch, E. S., & Yount, K. M. (2014). Intimate partner violence and breastfeeding in Africa. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 18(3), 688–697. doi:10.1007/s10995-013-1294-x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Omari, A. A., Luo, C., Kankasa, C., Bhat, G. J., & Bunn, J. (2003). Infant-feeding practices of mothers of known HIV status in Lusaka, Zambia. Health Policy Plan, 18(2), 156–162.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Onono, M. A., Cohen, C. R., Jerop, M., Bukusi, E. A., & Turan, J. M. (2014). HIV serostatus and disclosure: Implications for infant feeding practice in rural south Nyanza, Kenya. BMC Public Health, 14, 390. doi:10.1186/1471-2458-14-390.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • MacQuarrie, K. L., Winter, R., & Kishor, S. (2014). Spousal violence in Sub-Saharan Africa: Structure, forms, and levels. Paper presented at the Population Association of America Annual Meeting, Boston, MA.

  • Raghunathan, T. E., Lepkowski, J. M., Hoewyk, J. V., & Solenberger, P. (2001). A multivariate technique for multiply imputing missing values using a sequence of regression models. Survey Methodology, 27, 85–95.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sibeko, L., Coutsoudis, A., Nzuza, S., & Gray-Donald, K. (2009). Mothers’ infant feeding experiences: Constraints and supports for optimal feeding in an HIV-impacted urban community in South Africa. Public Health Nutrition, 12(11), 1983–1990. doi:10.1017/S1368980009005199.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Silverman, J. G., Decker, M. R., Reed, E., & Raj, A. (2006). Intimate partner violence around the time of pregnancy: Association with breastfeeding behavior. Journal of Women’s Health (Larchmt), 15(8), 934–940. doi:10.1089/jwh.2006.15.934.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • StataCorp. (2009). Stata 11 multiple-imputation reference manual. College Station, TX: Stata Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Torpey, K., Kasonde, P., Kabaso, M., Weaver, M. A., Bryan, G., Mukonka, V., et al. (2010). Reducing pediatric HIV infection: estimating mother-to-child transmission rates in a program setting in Zambia. Journal of Aquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, 54(4), 415–422. doi:10.1097/QAI.0b013e3181e36616.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tuthill, E., McGrath, J., & Young, S. (2014). Commonalities and differences in infant feeding attitudes and practices in the context of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa: A metasynthesis. AIDS Care, 26(2), 214–225. doi:10.1080/09540121.2013.813625.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • van Buuren, S., Brand, J. P. L., Groothuis-Oudshoorn, C. G. M., & Rubin, D. B. (2006). Fully conditional specification in multivariate imputation. Journal of Statistical Computation and Simulation, 76, 1049–1064.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • WHO. (2010). Guidelines on HIV and infant feeding: Principles and recommendations for infant feeding in the context of HIV and a summary of evidence Geneva, Switzerland: WHO, UNAIDS, UNFPA, UNICEF.

  • ZMOH. (2010). PMTCT 2010 National Protocol Guidelines: Integrated Prevention of other-to-Child Transmission of HIV. In M. Bweupe, L. Chitembo, S. Maswenyeho, E. Murless, J. Mwale, B. Tambatamba, C. Vwalika, & R. Mbewe (Eds.) Zambia Ministry of Health.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department Health and Behavioral Sciences, University of Colorado Denver, Campus Box 188, P.O. Box 173364, Denver, CO, 80217-3364, USA

    Karen Hampanda

Authors
  1. Karen Hampanda
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Karen Hampanda.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Hampanda, K. Intimate Partner Violence Against HIV-Positive Women is Associated with Sub-Optimal Infant Feeding Practices in Lusaka, Zambia. Matern Child Health J 20, 2599–2606 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-016-2087-9

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-016-2087-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation