Family Planning Choices for Women With HIV

CONTENTS

Home (Key Points)

Supporting the Reproductive Decisions of Women With HIV

Box: Family Planning Is a Key Strategy to Reduce Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV

Box: When a Woman With HIV Decides About Pregnancy

Box: Helping Women Talk With Their Partners About Contraception and Safer Sex

Box: Information Communication Technology: Mobile Phones Keep Women With HIV in Contact With Care

Women With HIV Can Safely Use Most Contraceptive Methods

Box: Dual Protection Strategies Help Prevent Pregnancy and STIs

Women With HIV Need the Facts About Pregnancy

Box: What People With HIV Need to Know About Pregnancy and
Preventing Pregnancy

Bibliography

Credits

• INFO Report: “Women and HIV: Questions Answered”
• Web Tool: Assess Your Attitudes and Beliefs About People With HIV
• Box: What People With HIV Need to Know About Preventing Pregnancy

• Table 1: Comparing Contraceptive Methods for People with HIV
• Table 2: Drug Interactions: Combined Oral Contraceptives and Antiretroviral (ARV) Medications
• Web Box: Condoms at a Glance

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Web Tool: Assess Your Attitudes and Beliefs About People With HIV 

People—health care providers among them—have attitudes, feelings, and values concerning HIV that are shaped by such factors as their experiences, upbringing, culture, religion, profession, and the views of the people around them. These attitudes and beliefs can affect providers’ work. A provider’s fears, prejudices, and misunderstandings can pose barriers to good care or to access to services.

The exercise below is meant to help you, as a health care provider, to consider your own attitudes and values about people with HIV and how these beliefs may influence your interaction with clients. You can decide whether you agree or disagree with each of these statements. See below to interpret the answers.

Interpreting Your Answers

If you disagree with numbers 1, 3, 7, or 9; or you agree with numbers 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, or 10; your attitudes about people with HIV may reflect misconceptions.

Looking at our own attitudes helps to recognize actions and statements that would create an unwelcoming atmosphere for people with HIV who are seeking health care. Once we recognize these behaviors, we can find ways to change them. For detailed guidance on changing attitudes about people with HIV, the following training from EngenderHealth can help: “Reducing Stigma and Discrimination Related to HIV and AIDS: Training for Health Care Workers”

Source: Adapted from Mahendra 2006 (124)