Partners stand by HIV patients

Partners stand by HIV patients

Women face agonising dilemmas

Every pregnant woman is offered an Aids test as part of their ante-natal care.

But for some women the result is not the reassuring negative for which they had hoped.

As well as coping with the reality that they have HIV and how it will affect themselves and their unborn children, the women also have to consider whether to tell their partners.

Many fear their partners, particularly if they are negative themselves, will leave them.

They fear rejection and anger.

But a study of three years of data at North Middlesex University could offer a glimmer of hope to the women facing this agonising dilemma.

Hospital staff studied 59 HIV positive pregnant women and found that despite their diagnosis two thirds of the women stayed with their partners.

It does send out a positive message

Gus Cairns, of Positive Nation

Study author Dr Chris Wood, consultant HIV physician at North Middlesex and St Anns, said the results had surprised them.

"We were surprised initially.

"I had not wanted to put people off testing and was concerned about putting up the results, but then when we looked at the figures we realised that most people actually stayed together."

Now the statistics are to be used to reassure other HIV positive people worried about telling their partners.

Gus Cairns, of Positive Nation, an HIV and sexual health magazine, said they were quoting the statistics in a new pamphlet aimed at helping the newly diagnosed.

"In terms of encouraging people who do test positive it does send out a positive message and we hope it will give people hope.

I do always advocate that the women tell their partner

Dr Chris Wood, consultant HIV physician at North Middlesex and St Anns

"We are preparing a pamphlet aimed at newly diagnosed people and one of the questions we cover is should you tell a partner and we quote the statistics from Chris Wood."

Dr Wood said hospital policy was to encourage disclosure of HIV status to partners to avoid further infections.

But he realised that in some cases this was very difficult.

He said that most of the patients testing positive in his clinic were African in origin and some had either lost touch with their partners or had been raped.

Others had partners still living in their homeland, where HIV drugs were unavailable and they were reluctant to tell their partner as they feared little could be done to help them.

Dr Wood stressed it was important to deal with each case on an individual basis and said they would not force people to tell their partner.

"We are in a very awkward position and have to deal with each case as it comes.

"I do always advocate that the women tell their partner.

Chris Wood said the results had been surprising

"But there is no easy way round it. In the end it will probably be solved by people being sued if they do not tell their partner they are HIV positive."

He said that although most couples stayed together the relationships could be very strained.

One case that graphically illustrates the difficult dilemma faced by pregnant women is that of Praise, from central Africa.

She was diagnosed HIV positive when 22 weeks pregnant.

Although she quickly came to terms with her diagnosis she delayed telling her husband and avoided having sex with him.

When she did tell him about her status he refused to get himself tested.

And even though she wanted herself and her child to get all the treatment available, he forbade this and she was too scared to disobey him.

She dropped out of the system and did not contact the clinic again until she was 32 weeks pregnant.

At the last moment the father agreed to interventions and fortunately the baby was born uninfected.