Preventing mother to child HIV transmission
Promoting a healthy lifestyle for future generations.
AllLife sees mother to child transmission as one of the largest causes of HIV infection in children below the age of 15 years and thinks more should be done to prevent it.
Medical Director at AllLife, Dr Avron Urison, said they encourage social programmes that are aimed at increasing awareness relating to infant diagnosis and around the importance of granting access to HIV testing and services, for mothers living with HIV during their pregnancy and at childbirth.
According to Urison, if no defensive steps are taken, the risk of HIV transmission during childbirth is estimated to be relatively high and the chance of transmission is even greater if the baby is exposed to HIV infected blood or fluids.
He said if expectant mothers do not receive treatment, 25 percent of babies born to women with HIV will be infected by the virus, however, with treatment that percentage can be reduced to less than one percent.
“The earlier a pregnant woman goes to a health facility, the better – which is why we encourage that within the first three months of pregnancy, the expectant mother should visit the doctor or clinic, where they will be tested and given treatment if necessary.
“This will help because the health provider can also check for any other complications with the pregnancy,” Urison said.
Mothers to be were encouraged to eat healthily and abstain from alcohol and smoking, listen to health care providers and live a healthy life style.
Urison said parents should remember that when the mother is HIV positive, the baby will be tested at six weeks and when they stop breast feeding.
Should tests come back saying the child is HIV positive, then the child will be given treatment and the health care provider will let the mother know how to care for the child.
Urison encouraged mothers to breast feed exclusively for the first six months as he said when they mix feed their babies won’t get full protection from the mother’s milk and its nutrients and reminded people that HIV is a manageable disease.
