HIV+ Mothers Deliver Healthy Babies
Fear, anger, irritation and frustration – these are but few emotional determinants attributed to most of the young mothers who discover that they are HIV-positive during their pregnancy. Their biggest concern: whether they can deliver a HIV-negative baby. “My husband and I would be heartbroken if our baby were born HIV-infected. If we die, no one will adopt our baby should it be HIV-positive, and no one will care for it the way it deserves,” said Ludmila Syomkina (name changed), who is HIV-positive and was recently admitted to Maternity # 2 in Simferopol for a Cesarean delivery.
Simferopol Maternity #2 has been working with USAID’s Maternal and Infant Health Project since 2004. It is one of the most successful sites implementing the World Health Organization’s effective perinatal practices. Over its five years of collaboration with the USAID project, the maternity has achieved considerable results. It has substantially reduced unnecessary medical interventions during delivery: postpartum anesthesia dropped from 9 percent in 2004 to 0.9 percent in 2008, episiotomies dropped from 22 percent in 2004 to four percent in 2008, while companion deliveries increased from 17 percent in 2004 to 72 percent in July 2008.
Prevention of HIV transmission from mother-to-child is one of the project’s most important tasks. In successfully fostering evidence-based mother/baby care practices, health care professionals of the maternity succeeded in reducing HIV transmission to less then two percent versus a national mother-to-child transmission rate of eight percent. Appropriate counseling of mothers, timely antiretroviral treatment and 100 percent implementation of elective Cesarean delivery, family-oriented baby care, and a non-stigma approach are the key factors that contributed to such a low transmission level.
“Most women, like Ludmila, experience fear for the future of their newborn. We provide maximum support, appropriate care, counseling, and a human rights-based approach to each of our patients, and in return we receive happy smiles,” said Dr. Vaycheslav Regushevsky, Chief of Obstetrics at Simferopol Maternity #2.
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Victoria, pictured at two-days old, was delivered by a HIV-positive mother in the Simferopol Maternity #2. Her future will likely be HIV free.
Photo Credit: Alex Golubov |
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