Abstract

Background: Mother To Child Transmission (MTCT) of HIV is a threat in resource limited countries like Uganda where breastfeeding is the largest source of HIV transmission in children below the age of 5 years. The study was done to assess the compliance of HIV positive breast-feeding mothers to the Ministry of Health (MoH) recommended Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) options to prevent MTCT of HIV in Mukono district.

Methodology: This study enrolled a total of 380 HIV positive mothers of age 17 to 44 years with infants aged four years and below attending Naggalama hospital, Mukono COU hospital, and Mukono Municipality health centre IV and Kojja health centre IV.

Results: The results of the study revealed that 62.11% of the respondents complied with the recommended MoH IYCF options while the rest did not. 25.69% mothers had HIV positive children. Mothers who had babies aged between 13-24 months and mothers with secondary education were 2.55 and 2.29 times respectively more likely to comply with IYCF options. Mothers who practiced mixed feeding after 6 months; exclusive replacement feeding after 6 months and having HIV positive children were 0.002; 0.02 and 0.13 times respectively less likely to comply with IYCF options.

Conclusion: Age of child and education of the HIV positive mother, the feed type practiced by the mother after six months and the HIV test result of children were all found to be predictors of mothers’ compliance with the recommended IYCF options.

Keywords: Mother to child transmission; HIV; Uganda