In this write up we discuss some basic information on Mother to Child Transmission of HIV or basically MTCT. Basic understanding of MTCT is that: it is when the HIV virus is passed from an infected Mother (pregnant or breastfeeding) to her child (still in the womb or already born). MTCT is the major means of HIV infection in most children. Without preventive treatment children born from a mother that has the HIV virus the child is likely to be infected. Often times those babies that are infected through Mother to Child Transmission the majority are infected through breastfeeding especially if there were no maternal complications before delivery and it was hospital or safe delivery of the baby. Other times when MTCT occurs is when the mother is pregnant (uteral), during and after delivery.
Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) is dependent primarily upon the identification of the HIV positive woman. If an infected woman intend to become pregnant there are often certain steps that can be taken to reduce the risk of transmitting the HIV virus to her baby. Below are some of the vital steps:
ANTENATAL CARE
Voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) serves as first step as it is better to know your HIV status. Many infected women are diagnosed for the first time during pregnancy. VCT in Antenatal Care (ANC) enables women to:
- Learn how to practice safer sex
- Encourage their partners to be counseled and tested for HIV virus presence
- Learn ways to prevent transmission (MTCT)
- Learn ways to prevent future pregnancies
Smoking, drinking alcohol and drug misuse, and having unprotected sex with people of unknown HIV status during pregnancy does also increase the risk of MTCT and other maternal and neonatal complications.
POST EXPOSURE PROPHYLAXIS ( PEP)
PEP is a preventive measure that uses anti-retroviral therapy in the treatment of HIV immediately after exposure to the virus in someone that is HIV negative. It is important to seek medical attention immediately after exposure to the HIV virus because this therapy needs to be started within 72 hours of the exposure. It is very vital to understand that Pep is only effective for people who are newly exposed to HIV as once the HIV virus is active in the body PEP has no effect.
We need to join the fight of promoting the elimination of MCTC so that the future leaders the babies being born are free from the HIV virus. Management of a child with HIV virus is very challenging as it en-campuses a lot of factors such; how do you disclose to child about his or her HIV status the time they grow? How sure are you that this will be compliant with taking of the medications especially that they will have known that its not their fault they have the virus in the first place but the parents? Is it fair for an innocent unborn child to be born with the HIV virus when you could have done something about it to prevent that?
In the next article we shall share some more options available to eliminate MTCT. We thank you. May God bless you.!!
About the Author:
Lukas Zimba is a Registered Nursing Student from Fountain of Peace School of Health Sciences based in Petauke, Eastern Province of Zambia.
And
Dalitso Maseko the ED for STEM Zambia Initiative, as Chief Editor.
