Perceptions and Experiences of Pregnant Women about Routine HIV Counselling and Testing in Tertiary Hospitals in Rivers State, Nigeria

The study is aimed at investigating Perceptions and Experiences of Pregnant Women about Routine Human Immunodeficiency Virus Counselling and Testing in Tertiary Hospitals in Rivers State. Qualitative and quantitative research designs were used for the study. Two objectives and two research questions guided the study. A sample size of 200 pregnant women was used for the quantitative study while depth interviews were held with 10 pregnant women who tested for HIV at antenatal clinics (ANC), as well as four (4) healthcare workers involved in routine HIV counselling and testing. The instrument was subjected to a reliability test and a reliability coefficient of 0.85 was obtained. Data were analysed using the content analysis approach and simple percentages. The qualitative section of the study was divided into attitude of husbands, attitude of healthcare workers, fear of death for being HIV positive and suicidal tendency subthemes. The findings of the study revealed that 5% of the respondents were between 18 - 25years, 55% were between 26-30 years, 35% were between 31-36years while 5% were 37years and above. The result further revealed that HIV counselling and testing is well received and acceptable for most pregnant women. Most women were aware of routine antenatal HIV testing before registering for ANC services. The women indicated that they had learnt about HIV testing and its benefits through various community education activities, mass media and during their previous pregnancies. During ANC services, most health care workers were over stressed by the large numbers of women waiting for HIV testing. This was noticed to have downplayed or reduced the quality of counselling services, thereby affecting the quality of prevention of mother to child transmission services. Also, routine HIV counselling and testing in tertiary hospitals in River State is very important and necessary but should not be made compulsory. The study concluded that routine counselling and testing will enable individuals to make informed choices regarding the HIV test and take appropriate action. Therefore, the study recommended that routine counselling and testing facilities should be made available in all antenatal units of the hospitals.