Factors contributing to missed opportunities in the prevention of mother to child transmission programme in the sub-district of Ngaka Modiri Molema, North West Province, South Africa

Prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) programme is effective when implemented properly. The purpose of the study was to explore factors contributing to missed opportunities in the PMTCT programme in the sub-district of Ngaka Modiri Molema (NMM). A qualitative exploratory descriptive design was used in the study. The population was all midwives working at NMM district public health centers. The midwives were purposivefully selected based on their knowledge of PMTCT. The sample size was determined by data saturation and 9 midwives were interviewed. Face-to- face individual interviews was conducted using semi structured interview guide. The tape recorder was used for capturing interviews and field notes captured cues. Tesch’s eight steps coding process were used for data analysis. The researchers listened to the audiotapes and manually transcribed the themes, read the transcripts to understand and make meaning of ideas that emerged. The study found several factors contributing to missed opportunities in the PMTCT programme which were religious, cultural, ignorance, denial and lack of knowledge about PMTCT. The recommendations were the following: regular in-service training about PMTCT for the midwives, health education about the importance of PMTCT, nursing curriculum to include PMTCT and collaboration between the health care workers, churches, traditional leaders with regard to the implementation of PMTCT.Keywords: HIV/ AIDS, PMTCT, pregnant woman, missed opportunities, midwive