Metrics details. ALHIV are at risk of unintended pregnancy which jeopardizes their socio-economic future, health outcomes and exposes their newborn to HIV transmission.
A better understanding of these events is needed. We estimated the month incidence rate of pregnancy per woman-years WY among those older than 14 years at inclusion. In Abidjan, semi-structured interviews were also conducted with eight adolescents who became pregnant since their inclusion to report their pregnancy experience. After 18 months of follow-up, 12 pregnancies occurred among the ALHIV followed up over WY, yielding an overall pregnancy incidence of 7. Stratified by age at enrolment, it was 2.
The eight ALHIV interviewed shared that the discovery of their pregnancy, all unintended, was a shock, and led to negative consequences, such as rejection from their family, and stigmatisation. Most attempted to terminate their pregnancy unsuccessfully. They reported major financial challenges associated with their pregnancy that forced them to find a job rather than going back to school after delivery.
HIV care programs should include interventions that improve awareness and access to sexual and reproductive healthcare, including contraception, to meet the needs of ALHIV in West Africa. Peer Review reports. Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest adolescent pregnancy rate in the world [ 1 ].
Unplanned pregnancies can have negative consequences on the social well-being and health outcomes of adolescents and their offspring, including adverse birth outcomes, school dropout and economic hardship [ 4 ]. These existing challenges hinders their ability to access appropriate SRH services [ 6 ], as evidenced by low levels of knowledge about access to and use of SRH services, including condom use, among ALHIV [ 7 ].
