MENTOR MOTHERS

The bond between the mother and baby is evident as she fondly holds and suckles on to her mother’s breast.

The baby gets destructed as the mother gets close to the voice recorder.

‘I knew my HIV status in 2012 when I was pregnant with this baby. I was shocked. I know my husband infected me with that virus. When I came back from my rural home to Nairobi rumour had it that he was having an affair with a sugar mummy. One day I I tried to ask him about his health status but he almost hit me. I even contemplated suicide’, says Dorina Aswani mother of 3 as she tries to fight back tears.

According to the National AIDS indicator Survey 2012, she represents one of the 1.6 million people living with HIV and AIDS in Kenya. 

UNAIDS estimates that in 2010, 57.5% of this population constitutes of women, meaning was more women are HIV+ as compared to their male counterparts.

‘I have been living with HIV and AIDS for 12 years. I had syphilis and gonorrhea and the doctors decided to take blood samples and undergo a HIV test. I wanted to abort the pregnancy because I knew the baby and I had no future. I thought I would give birth to a dead baby because I was HIV+.I had lost hope,’ narrates Esther from Mathare slums in Nairobi.

These two ladies have been able to have children who are HIV- even when these mothers were HIV+, something unheard of years ago.

‘Nearly 80% of HIV+ pregnant women have been provided with services to prevent them from passing the virus to their babies,’ says Cabinet Secretary for health James Macharia.

A 2012 report from Non Governmental Organization Mothers to Mothers says that approximately 800 children become HIV+ daily.

90% of these cases are from Sub Saharan Africa.

These transmissions occur during pregnancy, child birth or during breastfeeding.

Communication Officer Rehema Kahurananga says that HIV+ pregnant women do not get adequate attention from health workers due to the volumes of people streaming in these institutions.

‘However I cannot blame the public officers because they have a heavy workload so they have to attend to numerous clients. Mentor Mothers came on board to cushion this pressure. We believe in the power to eliminate paediatric AIDS ,’ explains Kahurananga.

‘We give the HIV+ pregnant women counseling so that they may be able to live positively. We counsel them when they are alone when they are with their husbands. We give advice on nutrition and we also offer a conducive environment for them so that they support their children. Stress is not a good thing for these women. A mentor mother is a HIV+ woman who helps a pregnant HIV+ woman carry her baby to term, says Julie Obiero who is a mentor mother.

Ironic enough Julie confesses it took time for her to accept her status when she was told she is HIV+ before she became a Mentor Mother.

‘I was in denial and I did not take my baby to the clinic. He turned out to be negative. I just thank the Almighty for protection my young one. However, I advice mothers in my situation not to follow my actions. It is very risky and you can easily pass the virus to your baby if you do not seek medical attention, advises Julie.

Aswani says that the mentor mother sessions gave her hope and she was happy to realize that there are many other women who are living positively even after realizing they have been infected.

‘When I was pregnant I received counseling from the mentor mothers. During their sessions I met fellow women who were in my situation. This brought a breath of fresh air into my life. We freely revealed our HIV statuses with no fear of discrimination and stigmatization. I learned that with good nutrition and proper intake of medication in a disciplined routine one can live a positive life,’ narrate Aswani.

Esther adds that she was able to learn that a HIV+ woman can give birth to a HIV- baby.

Mentor Mother program aims at achieving Millennium Development Goals of empowering women, improving maternal and child health and combating spread of HIV and AIDS virus.

 By 2012 Mentor Mothers project had reached 1.2 million pregnant HIV+ women across Africa.

In South Africa these figures have reached 800,000, Lesotho 60,000, Malawi 74,000, Rwanda 18,000, Zambia 47,000, Swaziland 100,000, Tanzania 4,000, Uganda 8,000 and Kenya 92,000.

Government of Kenya statistics reveal that more than 3 million mother-baby transmissions have been averted around the globe.  

‘Between 2010 and 2012, 15% of HIV prevalence amongst children under 5 had been reduced.  ‘, says the Ministry of Health report.

Without intervention the risk of mother to child transmission of HIV is 20-45% with the highest transmissions being seen in populations with prolonged breastfeeding patterns.

‘However this risk reduces 2-5% when comprehensive interventions are provided. An estimated 32,000 child infections have been averted since 2004, with much more work to be done,’ the report states.

According to the 2010 National HIV indicator for Kenya 87,000 HIV+ mothers and their infants were in need of Prevention from Mother To Child Transmissions Services in Kenya.

‘HIV+ mothers have to breastfeed the 1^st 6 months exclusively to boost their immunity. Breaking this nutritional requirement puts the baby at risk of being HIV+,’ says Ruth Masha from UNAIDS.

Aswani says that her husband knows her status but her spouse refused to be tested.

She expresses her fear that she almost thought that she would infect her baby because she never used to consistently take her ARV drugs. 

She adds that she did not want her husband to realize she was on ARVs because she was scared she would be divorced if the husband realized she realized she was HIV+.

The Millennium Development Goals MDGs adopted in 2000 designated empowerment of women, maternal and child health  and combating spread of HIV and AIDS as four of the eight priorities for advancement of global health and development.

By 2015, goals three, four, five and six aim to: eliminate gender disparity in education, reduce global under-five mortality rates by two-thirds, decrease maternal mortality ratios by three quarters and halt spread of HIV and AIDS.

PMTCT has come into focus to help achieve these four goals.

The Global Plan released in2011 by UNAIDS refocuses on reaching these MDGs goals by refocusing effort to prevent Mother-to-Child transmission.

The plan aims at reducing by 90% reduction of childhood HIV infections and reducing HIV related maternal deaths by 50%.

The Global Plan in which Kenya is a signatory state calls for use of Mentor Mothers to achieve this.

We are in 2015 and many experts have predicted that many nations, Kenya included will not reach the set targets of achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

This is an important year whereby MDGs expire and there is need to achieve the post 2015 development agenda of Sustainable Development Goals SDGs.

There is need for governments which have not reached the MDGs to embrace the new SDGs to achieve development across different sectors of the societies.

Some of SDG targets include achieving gender equality, social inclusion and Human Rights an element the Mentor Mothers initiative sets to achieve.

The SDG targets will be finalized this September at a summit in New York.