Pregnancy decision-making among HIV positive women in Northern Vietnam: reconsidering reproductive choice

The global HIV epidemic confronts pregnant women with hard reproductive choices. This paper offers a theoretically innovative and ethnographically sensitive exploration of the social processes through which 20 HIV positive women living in Northern Vietnam decide whether to continue or terminate thei...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Anthropology & medicine 2011-12, Vol.18 (3), p.315-326
Main Authors: Chi, Bùi Kim, Rasch, Vibeke, Thị Thúy Hạnh, Nguyễn, Gammeltoft, Tine
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abortion
Abortion, Induced - psychology
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
Adult
Anthropology, Medical
Choice Behavior
Choices
Counseling
Cultural identity
Decision making
Epidemics
Female
Females
HIV
HIV Seropositivity - psychology
Human immunodeficiency virus
Humans
Husbands
Interpersonal Relations
Interviews as Topic
Medical anthropology
Parents
PMTCT
Pregnancy
Pregnancy Complications, Infectious - psychology
Pregnancy Complications, Infectious - virology
Reproductive Behavior - psychology
reproductive choice
Reproductive health
Siblings
Spouses
Vietnam
Women's health
Womens health
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Summary:The global HIV epidemic confronts pregnant women with hard reproductive choices. This paper offers a theoretically innovative and ethnographically sensitive exploration of the social processes through which 20 HIV positive women living in Northern Vietnam decide whether to continue or terminate their pregnancies. Arguing that human agency must be seen as an outcome of intersubjective engagements in shared social worlds, this paper explores how these women came to the decisions that they had to make and shows that women's choices were configured through everyday social relations, shaped through intimate engagements with husbands, parents, siblings, and in-laws. Based on the findings, it is recommended that pregnancy counseling is offered not only to the woman herself, but also, if she desires, involves members of her extended family.
ISSN:1364-8470
1469-2910
DOI:10.1080/13648470.2011.615909