Preventing vertical HIV virus transmission: hospital care assessment

Abstract

Objectives: assess the implementation of actions to prevent vertical transmission of HIV. Methods: a retrospective cohort study conducted in two maternity hospitals in the city of Montes Claros, State of Minas Gerais. All women admitted for childbirth diagnosed with HIV and their respective newborns were included from 2014 to 2017. Data were collected from medical records and analyzed descriptively. Results: population consisted of 46 pairs of mothers and newborns. Management was considered inadequate in 30 cases of parturient/postpartum women (65.2%) and 14 cases of newborns (30.4%). The main reasons for inadequate maternal management were lack of pharmacological inhibition of lactation (53.3%) and counseling/consent for HIV testing (43.3%). For newborns, late onsetoffirst dose ofZidovudine (50.0%) and no prescriptionofNevirapine (28.6%). Conclusions: important prevention opportunities were missed, pointing to the need for improved care.