STI in Pregant Women: The Partner Method

Staff members:

Staff members:

Team members:

Marleen Temmerman

Team members:

Marleen Temmerman

Main objective:

To develop a model to improve the control of sexually transmitted infections in pregnant women in Mozambique

Specific objectives:

To evaluate the acceptability and operational feasibility of a model involving men in the reproductive health of pregnant women
To evaluate the effect of the partner method on (1) the prevalence of STI in pregnant women, (2) pregnancy outcome, and (3) neonatal health
To compare the cost-effectiveness of the partner method with the current standard syndromic approach

Demonstration intervention project involving pregnant women attending prenatal consultations at two health centres of Tete City, Mozambique
Particpation rate of spouses attending antenatal clinics was measured pre- and post-intervention
Women were tested for Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis and syphilis at the prenatal consultation, as well as at birth or during post-natal consultation

Focus group discussions with pregnant women and their partners
Baseline survey of the prevalence of STI in pregant women and the participation of men at antanatal clinics
Community-based intervention to educate men on reproductive health, based on the outcome of the focus group discussions
Health facility-based intervention to increase awareness of nurses on male participation
Post-intervention survey of the prevalence of STI in pregnant women and the participation of men at antenatal clinics
Surevy among men to measure the response to the intervention at community-level

STI prevalence among pregant women at baseline was relatively low (2.9% NG and 4.5% CT) and did not allow the measurement of an effect by the intervention
Participation rate of men attending antenatal clinics was 0% pre-intervention and increased to 20% after the health facility-based intervention
Participation rate of men after the community-based intervention was 12%