Understanding the Predictors of Early ANC Initiation and Patterns of Postpartum Maternal Mobility in Relation to Paediatric HIV Diagnosis and Linkage to HIV Care

The elimination of vertical transmission of HIV is within reach in South Africa, given the high coverage of the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) program. However to achieve the 90-90-90 targets for children, we need to improve early infant diagnosis (EID) efforts by strengthening postpartum retention and participation of women the PMTCT program, including mothers who initially test HIV negative in antenatal care (ANC). This study aims to firstly map out patterns of maternal postpartum mobility and how these relate to the postpartum utilization of PMTCT services, and secondly to assess the effect of a telephonic tracing with counseling support intervention on postpartum retention and completion of the PMTCT cascade steps by mother-child pairs in the Gauteng province, South Africa.