Desire and decision to attain motherhood for women living with HIV: a case study of Dar es Salaam city

In Tanzania, women who are HIV positive cling to social and medical constructed norms that compel them to escape from becoming pregnant on the one hand and on the other hand, show strong desire to marry and bear children. This study deals with the desire and decision to attain motherhood for women living with HIV. The focused location is the City of Dar es salaam and the study scrutinizes factors for desire and decision to attain motherhood regardless of high risk that an HIV positive woman anticipates to face as well as the risk of Mother To Child Transmission of HIV (MTCT) of HIV. Data were collected by a cross sectional survey of 258 women of reproductive age (15-49 years) who live in Dar es Salaam City. A structured questionnaire was used as a guiding tool for interviewing women who are HIV positive, and who receive care and treatment from seven HIV clinics namely: Sinza Health Center, Hurbert Kairuki Mission Mikochen Hospital, Mwananyamala Hospital (Kinondoni), Amana Hospital and Buguruni Health Center, (Ilala) and Temeke Hospital and PASADA Center (Temeke). Results show that, 48.8 percent of women living with HIV desired to attain motherhood. The main reasons are: to demonstrate biological motherhood which the society demands on women in order to prove fertility and disapprove infertility, marriage and re-marrying trigger the desire for motherhood, confidence in giving birth to newborn babies free of HIV. Moreover, the awareness about ways of Prevention from Mother To Child Transmission of HIV (PMTCT) increases the desire due to the fact that there is assurance that newborn babies will most likely not be affected by HIV. The findings imply that, concerted efforts should be done to reduce the level of stigmatization which is one of determining factors for women to strive for childbearing in order to demonstrate to the society that they are not infected by HIV. Likewise, there should be dialogue and open discussion on reproductive health options for HIV positive people from grassroots level all the way to national level.