Understanding Practices of Lactation and Infant Feeding Together With Women With HIV in the United States

Description

This is a convergent mixed-method, multisite study to identify factors in infant feeding decisions and explore infant feeding perspectives, preferences, practices and outcomes among women with HIV in the US. Feasibility and acceptability of developing a national registry of breastfeeding women with HIV in the US will also be assessed. The study sites will enroll women with HIV who are pregnant or postpartum (PPWH), healthcare providers (HCPs) and ancillary healthcare professionals (AHPs), other influential individuals who contribute to infant feeding decisions, and pilot registry testers.

The study will be comprised of three core activities:

* Core Activity 1: Will explore the multifaceted process of infant feeding decision-making, and describe clinical practice, and counseling approaches via in-depth interviews (IDIs) and surveys. IDIs will be completed with PPWH, influential people who contribute to infant feeding decisions, HCPs, and AHPs. HCPs and AHPs will also complete self-administered surveys, and site staff at each site will complete site-level surveys to inform a landscape analysis.
* Core Activity 2: Will establish an observational prospective cohort of PPWH, and their liveborn infants, to examine current infant feeding practices and outcomes and their associated costs and cost benefits.
* Core Activity 3: Will develop and pilot a national registry of breastfeeding women with HIV and assess its feasibility and acceptability among pilot registry testers.