Fetomaternal outcome of HIV-infected pregnant women delivering at a tertiary health-care center of South Gujarat.

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study was to document the fetomaternal outcome in HIV-infected pregnant women delivering at a tertiary health-care center of South Gujarat.

Subjects and methods: This study was a secondary data analysis of pregnant HIV-infected women delivering between May 2017 and April 2021 in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, a tertiary health-care center of South Gujarat.

Statistical analysis: Secondary data analysis was performed using IBM SPSS ver. 20.0 (IBM SPSS Corp., Armonk, NY, USA).

Results: A total of 145 HIV-infected pregnant women were delivered at our institute during the study period. Thirteen (8.97%) participants had preterm delivery. Eighty-eight (60.68%) of the 145 participants had vaginal delivery and 57 (39.32%) underwent cesarean section. One hundred and forty-three (98.62%) of our 145 participants had live births, whereas 2 (1.38%) had stillbirths. Most of the newborns, i.e., 96 (64.43%) had a birth weight of between 2 and 3 kg, and 25 (16.77%) had a birth weight of <2 kg. Out of 147 live-born babies, 36 (24.48%) babies were admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit NICU.

Conclusion: Although the HIV positivity in our general population is <1%, it entails a slightly higher risk of preterm birth and stillbirth for the HIV-positive pregnant women. Early registration and appropriate antenatal care are necessary for optimizing the fetomaternal outcome.