Break The Silence

By Gregory De Vries

People living with HIV should avoid unplanned pregnancies: If you still want to have a baby, these are some things you should consider:

· To become pregnant you will have to have unprotected sex. In this way, you and/or your partner could get infected or re-infected with HIV.

· There is a risk that your child may get HIV. Even with PMTCT, a risk remains .Therefore, your child may also require a life long treatment and medicine one day.

· Pregnancy can be a strain on your immune system, especially when HIV has already weakened your body.

· You may not be able to take care of your child if you and your partner get sick from HIV/AIDS. The 10 Most Important Facts About PMTCT (Prevention of Mother To Child Transmission) PMTCT refers to the Prevention of mother to child transmission in regards to the HIV virus.

· Having sex without a condom during pregnancy puts yourself, your partner and baby at risk

· When partners and family members support each other, it is much easier to do all the right things to protect the baby.

· It takes at least 6 weeks after birth before a test can show whether HIV has passed on to your baby or not

· Mothers with HIV who breastfeed should never mix breast milk with other food or drink.

· The three safe ways to feed your baby are by breastfeeding only: by feeding formula only : or by feeding your baby with an animal milk – boiled water – sugar mixture.

· The baby of a mother with HIV has to get HIV/ AIDS medicine drops immediately after birth

· If the mother takes full HIV/AIDS medicines before birth, the risk of passing HIV on to the her baby during birth is reduced

· The risk of infection can be lowered by using HIV/AIDS medicines, safer feeding options, safer sex during pregnancy, and giving birth in a hospital or other health facility.

· Not all children born to mothers with HIV will get infected.

· HIV can be passed from an infected mother to her child during pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding.

Protecting your baby from HIV: if you are living with HIV and are pregnant your health worker will discuss with you how to reduce the risk of infecting your baby and maintain your own health. This following things can be done:

1 Safer sex practices: protect others from HIV and yourself from being infected again by not having sex. If you have sex, always use a condom if you get infected again during pregnancy, the risk of the baby getting HIV is greater.

2 Using HIV/AIDS medicines: HIV/AIDS treatment, if HIV has weakened your body, you should start HIV/ AIDS treatment ( anti-retroviral treatment) and use it for the rest of your life. Treatment will improve your health and reduce the risk of your baby getting HIV. HIV/ AIDS medicines before birth only if the body is still strong ,you will not need treatment yet . Instead, you will be given a few tablets of HIV medicine just before birth only. The baby must always get HIV medicine drops after birth.

3 Safer delivery: Always make sure that you give birth in a health facility . The health workers can make sure that the birth is clean and properly supported .All this is important to reduce the risk of HIV passing from you to your baby.

4 Safer baby feeding: feeding the child with breast milk only or with replacement foods reduces the risk of HIV infection after birth.

BTS KNOWS: Let’s stop using our traditional cultures as an excuse for saying we’re ignorant on issues relating to HIV/AIDS- I believe ignorance is a luxury we cannot afford anymore. If you do wish to get pregnant consult your Doctor as a lot of things should be taken into consideration before you can get pregnant. Let’s take leadership in our lives; this fight will never be won unless we change our mindset and our attitude towards sex.