Motherhood among Black women living with HIV: A “north-south” comparison of sociocultural and psychological factors

Abstract

We compared factors mediating motherhood experiences among Black nursing mothers living with HIV in two North American cities to one African city. Motherhood was measured with the Being a Mother Scale, and we compared their predictors between the two continents using difference in difference estimation within hierarchical linear modeling. Cultural beliefs congruent with infant feeding guidelines and social support had significant positive but differing effects on motherhood in the two continents. Perceived stress had significant negative impact on motherhood in the two continents. Due considerations to sociocultural contexts in policy development, HIV interventions and education of health care providers were recommended.

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the African Caribbean Black mothers living with HIV who shared their life’s experiences and perspectives about the choices they made regarding their infant feeding practices. We are also grateful to the research assistants, staff, and community stakeholders who helped make this study possible.

Contributor statement

J.E. led the conceptualization, design, implementation and management of the overall project and the led the development of this manuscript. J.E., S.B., J. H., J. C. P. and E. B. E. contributed to development of the variables analyzed for this manuscript. J. C. P., P. M. and E. B. E. analyzed the data All authors contributed to the interpretation of the results of data analyses and the completion of the final draft of the manuscript. All authors gave approval for the submission of the final draft of the manuscript for publication.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Ethical statement

The study was approved by the Health Sciences and Science Research Ethics Board at the University of Ottawa (certificate #H08-16-27), the Carleton University Research Ethics Board-A (CUREB-A, certificate #106300), the Social and Behavioral Institutional Review Board at Florida International University (certificate #105160), and the Research Ethics Committee at the University of Port Harcourt (certificate #UPH/CEREMAD/REC/04). Additionally, permission was obtained from each of the community partner sites where participants were recruited. Participants were informed of the potential risks associated with completing the questionnaire and that they would have limited direct benefit from their participation. They were informed that they could withdraw from the study at any time without any adverse effects. Participants were informed that completion of the questionnaire signified their informed consent to participate in the study.

Additional information

Funding

This study is a component of larger project funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Institute of Infection and Immunity, Grant # 144831. The opinions expressed in this manuscript are those of the authors.