Despite significant progress in the reduction of perinatal transmission of HIV, there has been less attention to retaining women living with HIV (WLH) in care in the postpartum period. Retention in care particularly affects black and Hispanic women as they are disproportionately affected by the HIV epidemic in the United States (U.S.). In preliminary work, the investigators used HIV surveillance data from the Philadelphia Department of Public Health to examine the HIV care continuum of 561 women, 78% of whom were black, during pregnancy and up to two years postpartum (2005-2011). Only 38% of women received HIV care within 3 months after delivery, and retention remained poor at 1 (39%) and 2 (25%) years postpartum. Poor maternal retention in care also occurs in Mississippi, Georgia, and New York, demonstrating that this break in the HIV care continuum is widespread. Retaining WLH in care positively impacts their well-being and health postpartum and for years to come, which promotes not only their health but that of their newborns. Therefore, the long-term goal of this study is to decrease HIV disparities by increasing WLH's retention in care in the postpartum period.

Presently, there are a limited number of evidence-based interventions aimed at improving retention in care for WLH. Through a critical review of research literature, the investigators found that interventions to improve retention in care have been implemented in low-resource countries, but studies in high-resource countries are lacking. In sub-Saharan Africa, the use of peers has resulted in significantly higher maternal retention and viral suppression compared to standard of care. Peers are WLH who remained engaged in HIV care postpartum, and provide education and support to WLH in the prenatal and postpartum periods. The investigators also conducted a series of qualitative interviews with WLH in the U.S. to evaluate factors contributing to poor retention in care postpartum, and to assess the acceptability and feasibility of a peer intervention in meeting women's needs. The results showed that women's primary motivation to engage in prenatal care is to keep their infant healthy, but that many of them experience significant life challenges that impede their ability to engage in care postpartum. However, they expressed great interest in receiving support from a peer to motivate sustained engagement in care postpartum.

The investigators propose to test the efficacy of a theory-driven peer intervention, based on the integrated model of health behavior. The peer intervention, Women Involved in Supporting Health (WISH), is designed to increase self-efficacy, social support, self-regulatory behaviors, and outcome expectancy in order to improve retention in care and viral suppression postpartum. The intervention will consist of three face-to-face prenatal sessions, starting in early third trimester, and two face-to-face postpartum sessions scheduled up to three months postpartum. The prenatal sessions focus on knowledge that will address barriers to outcome expectancies and self-efficacy, and the postpartum sessions build on outcome expectancy and knowledge to develop skills tailored to adherence to antiretroviral therapy and engagement in HIV care. Between the sessions, the peer and the WLH will communicate via text messages, phone calls and/or video chat. The randomized controlled trial (RCT) will take place across Center for AIDS Research sites in Philadelphia, the District of Columbia, Atlanta, and Birmingham, where HIV infection rates remain disproportionally high among black and Hispanic women. A total of 260 pregnant WLH will be randomized to either WISH adherence or an attention-matched WISH parenting control group.

The impact of this research will be the development of the first evidence-based peer intervention to address the pressing need to improve postpartum retention in HIV care and viral suppression of WLH in the U.S.