Positive motherhood: Teenage girls living with HIV in Kenya.

Maternal and child health services in much of sub-Saharan Africa do not adequately meet the needs of teenage mothers. This is due in part to both weaknesses in the health care system and to the social stigma surrounding teenage motherhood in the region. Teenage mother living with HIV are also likely to face additional challenges resulting from stigma and discrimination linked to being infected with the virus. Understanding the pregnancy and birth experiences of HIV-positive teen mothers is thus an important step towards identifying their challenges and designing suitable programs to address them. This article examines the pregnancy and birth experiences of HIV-positive teenagers aged 15-19 years in Kenya based on a diagnostic study done in 2009 in Nyanza and Nairobi provinces both with the highest HIV prevalence in the country. The implications of these experiences for the provision of maternal and child health services to HIV-positive teenagers are also discussed.