Marseille 2007
Marseille 2007
Abstract book
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Abstract #445  -  The quest for infant feeding : challenges for HIV+ mothers in Burkina Faso
Session:
  6.15: Posters A (Poster) on Monday   in  Chaired by
Authors:
  Presenting Author:   Dr Chiara Alfieri - CReCSS, France
 
  Additional Authors:   
Aim:
The purpose of this study is to describe and analyze itineraries and practices regarding infant feeding amongst HIV + mothers that had chosen exclusive breastfeeding plus early weaning as a strategy to prevent HIV transmission. Women are taught during counselling in Mother and Child Health Centers to wean and use replacement food when their baby is six months old. This creates an unusual situation in Burkina Faso, where infants are usually breastfed up to 25 months.
 
Method / Issue:
Qualitative investigations (within ANRS 1271 research project) have been carried out through repeated interviews with 45 mothers, included either in WHO Kesho Bora trial or in PMTCT national programme, in Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso. At least one interview was held after the babys weaning.
 
Results / Comments:
The first steps in the set up of replacement food is, for the mothers, the exposure to discourses on appropriate infant nutrition. Discourses and advices are given to them in three settings: i. during PMTCT counselling, ii. by health-providers in nutritional centers related to Mother and Child Health centers, iii. in the family circle, by women that give advices according to folk models. At this stage, women are told about replacement foods that are locally available and about specific products such as replacement fortified flour. To build their perceptions of appropriate food, women combine several models related to folk and biomedical systems of knowledge. Then, the selection of food depends on the availability of several kinds of replacement food, and their accessibility according to womens economic level. Some of them are available on the market, as others may be obtained from health services or PLWA support organizations. Many mothers start a nutritional quest that leads them to change the infants feeding pattern according to opportunities and limits. Results show various social strategies set up by women to get appropriate replacement food. These strategies rely on: trying several kinds of advised or similar food, building relationships with particular actors to be informed of the availability of some food, setting up means to maintain confidentiality about their HIV status, combining different patterns of feeding for social reasons, etc.
 
Discussion:
The study of mothers itineraries and practices shows that to make their quest for infant food successful, many social strategies must be used. These data will be useful to complement nutritional information provided during counselling in PMTCT.
 
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