Characteristics of HIV-infected pregnant women in the Bahamas

ABSTRACT

The Commonwealth of the Bahamas has one of the highest rates of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in the English-speaking Caribbean. A seropositive study of the pregnant women attending antenatal clinics in New Providence in 1990-91 showed that of 3,914 pregnant women tested, 2.9 percent were human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected. Women born in the Bahamas constituted 79.2 percent of the women tested; 17.7 percent were born in Haiti. The rate of HIV infection was 2.5 percent in the Bahamian women as compared with 4.5 percent in those born in Haiti. The highest incidence was in women aged 25-34 years and in women who had multiple pregnancies. There was a significant association with a history of crack cocaine use by the Bahamian women. There was also a significant association between a lack of education and HIV infection in this group. There was a lower rate of condom use among women with less education and also among women in common-l