My life as Mae Tid Chua [mothers who contracted HIV disease]: motherhood and women living with HIV/AIDS in central Thailand.
BACKGROUND
literature suggests that many women living with HIV/AIDS have a desire to become mothers and indeed many of them have done so (Thiangtham and Bennett, 2009; Barnes, 2013; Cogna et al., 2013; Lazarus et al., 2013; Ross, 2013; Yeatman and Trinitapoli, 2013). However, there is still a lack of knowledge about the lived experiences of Thai women living with HIV/AIDS who have become mothers. In this paper, we explored the experiences of pregnancy and birth, motherhood, and infant feeding practices among women living with HIV/AIDS in Thailand.


METHOD
in-depth interviews were conducted with 26 women living with HIV/AIDS in Thailand.


FINDINGS
motherhood was considered desirable by women living with HIV/AIDS who participated in our study. Despite living with a serious illness, becoming a mother permitted them to have a meaningful life. Motherhood prompted the women to stay alive for their children. However, the women lived with constant anxiety about the condition of their infants. Reproductive needs of the women in our study were often questioned by their health care providers. Many were advised by their doctors and nurses not to breast feed their newborn babies as this could transmit HIV to the child. Most women took into account their ability to care for their children in the future and thus did not wish to have many children.


CONCLUSION
this paper contributes to conceptual understanding about the lived experiences of motherhood among women living with HIV/AIDS in Thailand. The findings have implications for midwifery care.
['Liamputtong|Pranee|P|', 'Haritavorn|Niphattra|N|']
D000328:Adult D001942:Breast Feeding D000075202:Contraindications D005260:Female D015658:HIV Infections D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice D006801:Humans D007231:Infant, Newborn D008425:Maternal Behavior D016389:Maternal-Child Nursing D009035:Mothers D020380:Needs Assessment D011247:Pregnancy D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious D036301:Qualitative Research D011788:Quality of Life D046269:Reproductive Rights D013785:Thailand
Thai women Infant feeding practices Abortion Pregnancy and birth experiences Qualitative research Reproductive rights