Outcome of Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV Services at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH), Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Background: Mother to Child Transmission (MTCT) of HIV causes over 90% of Paediatric HIV and its prevention must be targeted to curb this scourge.

Objective: To determine the associated risk factors and outcome (HIV status) of HIV-exposed babies at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH).

Methodology: This was a prospective study carried out at the Paediatric HIV clinic of UPTH. Information on sociodemographic data of the babies, age at referral, when the mother’s HIV status was diagnosed, HAART use status of the mother, place of ANC and delivery, method of delivery, feeding option, duration of breast feeding and HIV status of the babies were obtained. Obtained data was analysed and a p- value of < 0.05 was considered significant at 95% confidence interval.

Result: A total of two hundred and sixty HIV exposed children were seen over the study period, with a male: female ratio of 1.4:1. The overall MTCT rate was 6.2%. Among the mothers that had the complete PMTCT intervention, an MTCT rate of 1.1% was observed, while it was 28.6% among mothers who had no form of PMTCT. Identified statistically significant risk factors to MTCT include; lack of use of HAART (χ2 =116.2, p=0.0001); No infant ARV prophylaxis (p=0.0001); Mixed feeding (p=0.0001); Prolonged breast feeding (χ 2 = 7.09, P= 0.0287); TBA supervised pregnancy (χ2 =31.9, P= 0.0001) and delivery (χ2 =61.47, P= 0.0001).

Conclusion: PMTCT interventions in the control of MTCT of HIV is effective. To eliminate MTCT of HIV, promoting PMTCT services must be encouraged.