Maternal clinical and demographic characteristics of the study sample (N=279)
| Characteristic | HIV exposed (n=131) | HIV unexposed (n=148) | P value |
| Maternal age (mean, SD) | 30.0 (6.0) | 26.6 (6.3) | <0.001 |
| Booked, n (%) | 114 (87.0) | 129 (87.2) | 0.9 |
| Local residence, n (%) | 101 (77.1) | 102 (68.9) | 0.1 |
| Parity (median, range) | 2.0 (2–3) | 2.0 (1–3) | <0.001 |
| Gravidity (median, range) | 2.0 (2–3) | 2.0 (1–3) | 0.01 |
| BMI (mean, SD) (n=238) | 29.2 (6.97) | 28.4 (7.46) | 0.4 |
| WR positive, n (%) (n=277) | 1 (0.8) | 4 (2.7) | 0.4 |
| Rh positive, n (%) | 131 (100) | 147 (99.3) | 0.9 |
| HIV positive | |||
| Viral load (median, range) (n=120) | 108 (20–4205) | N/A | |
| HAART: yes, n (%) | 117 (90.0) | N/A | |
| HAART: no, n (%) | 8 (6.2) | N/A | |
| HAART: unknown/defaulted, n (%) | 6 (4.6) | N/A | |
| Hypertension, n (%)* | 47 (35.9) | 80 (54.1) | 0.002 |
| Pre-eclampsia, n (%)† | 43 (32.8) | 65 (43.9) | 0.1 |
| Eclampsia, n (%) | 3 (2.3) | 9 (6.1) | 0.1 |
| HELLP, n (%) | 14 (10.7) | 15 (10.1) | 0.9 |
| Diabetes, n (%) | 1 (0.8) | 11 (7.4) | 0.006 |
| Tuberculosis, n (%) | 2 (1.5) | 2 (1.4) | 0.9 |
| PROM, n (%) | 12 (9.2) | 5 (3.4) | 0.05 |
| Antepartum haemorrhage, n (%) | 19 (14.5) | 17 (11.5) | 0.5 |
| Maternal infection, n (%) | |||
| UTI | 2 (1.5) | 8 (5.4) | |
| LRTI | 1 (0.8) | 3 (2.0) | |
| GE | 0 | 1 (0.7) | |
| Any infection | 3 (2.3) | 12 (8.1) | 0.04 |
| Smoking, n (%) | 11 (8.4) | 30 (20.3) | 0.005 |
| Drugs, n (%) | 1 (0.8) | 0 | 0.5 |
| Alcohol, n (%) | 30 (22.9) | 28 (18.9) | 0.4 |
| Biomass exposure, n (%) | 4 (3.1) | 3 (2.0) | 0.71 |
| Chorioamnionitis, n (%) | 2 (1.5) | 2 (1.4) | 0.9 |
| Antenatal steroids, n (%) | 60 (45.8) | 76 (51.4) | 0.4 |
| Antenatal antibiotics, n (%) | 18 (13.7) | 21 (14.2) | 0.9 |
*Isolated high blood pressure.
†High blood pressure associated with proteinuria, thrombocytopenia, coagulopathy and/or deranged liver enzymes.
BMI, body mass index; GE, gastroenteritis; HAART, highly active antiretroviral treatment; HELLP syndrome, haemolysis, elevated liver enzymes and low platelets; LRTI, lower respiratory tract infection; N/A, not applicable; PROM, prolonged rupture of membranes; Rh, Rhesus; UTI, urinary tract infection; WR, Wassermann reaction.