# HIV Viral suppression and prevention of postpartum weight retention in South Africa: A Pilot trial

> **NIH NIH R34** · HARTFORD HOSPITAL · 2024 · $303,753

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT (30 lines)
A of antiretroviral therapy (ART) coverage to pregnant women for life through Option B+ has been a major
advance in sub-Saharan Africa for maternal health; however, postpartum mothers living with HIV are at risk for
disengagement from HIV care and treatment non-adherence. Postpartum women are an important population
for efforts to improve HIV treatment adherence and addressing the role of HIV stigma is imperative in the
South African context. HIV stigma is also a key driver of weight and body size in this population. Larger bodies
have generally been preferred among women living with HIV to combat the perception of rapid weight loss
being an outward sign of rapidly declining health and AIDS-diagnosis. However, there are concerns about
excessive weight gain and adverse outcomes related to obesity in HIV positive populations, given ART
associated weight-gain concerns on top of population level increases in obesity. Excessive gestational weight
gain and postpartum weight retention are associated with poor maternal health outcomes including
pregnancy-related hypertensive disorders, large for gestational age babies, increased cesarean birth rates,
childhood obesity as well as maternal type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. HIV stigma and cultural
preferences must be addressed in interventions designed to improve HIV treatment adherence and postpartum
weight retention in this population, necessitating a contextually tailored intervention. This proposal will develop
and refine a community health worker delivered multicomponent behavioral intervention to address the
behavioral determinants of both HIV viral suppression and postpartum weight retention. Aim 1 will refine the
planned intervention through participatory qualitative data collection with the patient population and key
stakeholders. Aim 2 will evaluate the preliminary efficacy of the postpartum weight reduction and HIV viral
suppression intervention for postpartum women living with HIV. Aim 3 will assess the acceptability and
perceived usefulness of the intervention and identify potential mechanisms of change to be tested in a future
large-scale RCT. The proposed study will make a significant contribution to our understanding of intervention
techniques to address both viral suppression and postpartum weight retention among mothers living with HIV,
a critically important population for improved prevention and care. Findings from this work will be used to
develop an R01 application to test the efficacy of our culturally and contextually appropriate HIV treatment and
postpartum weight retention intervention in a large-scale RCT.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11264234
- **Project number:** 7R34MH135761-02
- **Recipient organization:** HARTFORD HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Lucia Knight
- **Activity code:** R34 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $303,753
- **Award type:** 7
- **Project period:** 2025-09-01 → 2028-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11264234

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11264234, HIV Viral suppression and prevention of postpartum weight retention in South Africa: A Pilot trial (7R34MH135761-02). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-24 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/11264234. Licensed CC0.

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