The Prevalence of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection among Pregnant Women in Labour with Unknown Status and those with Negative Status Early in the Index Pregnancy in a Tertiary Hospital in Nigeria.

Rapid HIV test in labour provide an opportunity for the identification of HIV positive pregnant women who should benefit from interventions to reduce the risk of mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV. Between November 2013 and June 2014 we conducted rapid HIV testing of pregnant women in labour at the National Hospital Abuja to determine the HIV seroconversion rate in pregnancy and the prevalence of HIV in pregnant women in labour with previously unknown status. HIV testing and counseling (HTC) was acceptable to 224 (99.6%) of the pregnant women who met the study criteria. The mean 'turnaround' time for test result was 288 minutes and 16.2 minutes for tests performed in the hospital laboratory and those performed at the point-of-care (labour ward) respectively. HIV seroconversion was detected in 2(1.2%) of the 165 parturients with initial HIV negative result early in the index pregnancy. HIV infection was detected in four (2.7%) of the 59 parturients with unknown HIV status. Secondary school level education was significantly associated with HIV seroconversion in pregnancy P < 0.001. HTC in labour using rapid testing strategy is feasible and acceptable in our setting. The introduction of HCT will lead to the diagnosis of HIV positive women in labour, appropriate interventions and prevention of MTCT of HIV.