Does uptake of antenatal HIV testing depend on the individual midwife?
Cross sectional study) See Paper (full text), p 272 The risk of vertical transmission of HIV infection (from mother to baby) can be reduced by at least two thirds with perinatal interventions (at the time of birth) and abstention from breastfeeding, say Welch et al in a paper in this week’s BMJ. Even so, uptake of HIV testing remains low – in 1994-5 only 16 per cent of pregnant women infected with HIV in London and the south east, were recognised before the birth. The authors investigated the influence that midwives have on test uptake and found an extremely wide variation in rates. They found that uptake was higher if pretest discussions with the midwife lasted longer than five minutes and if the midwife qualified either under five or over ten years ago. The authors suggest that this may be because more experienced midwives may be more confident in their counselling abilities. Recently qualified midwives may have received more up to date training about HIV infection. The study also fo
