A Mother’s Story
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| Malekena George |
Malekena George is eight months pregnant, living with HIV, and exhausted from the five-hour trek she endured to get to the Pilot Health Clinic in Lesotho’s Berea District, for her first—and probably only—prenatal check-up.
Malekena’s first child died at 13 months, likely due to HIV infection. Now, more than anything, Malekena is dedicated to ensuring that her second baby is not born with HIV as well.
Lesotho, an impoverished, landlocked country surrounded by South Africa, has an HIV/AIDS crisis, in which one in four people live with HIV. In 2007, the government, with help from UNICEF and partners, initiated a massive effort to improve the country's Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) services. Lesotho now allows clinic nurses to administer anti-retroviral (ARV) treatments which greatly expanded access to these critical interventions in remote areas of the country where few doctors are available.
The Lesotho government has also designed a package for expectant mothers that includes the most effective ARV drugs and antibiotics needed to keep them, and their children, healthy.
“Today at the clinic, I was given a Mother-Baby Pack distributed by UNICEF and the World Health Organization,” Malekena says. “The pack separates my ARV drugs and antibiotics so I know when to take them.”
Given the difficult journey, it’s unlikely that Malekena will be able to visit the clinic again before her home birth, one likely done without medical help. But she is planning to return with her newborn. “My baby will have an HIV test then,” she says. “And the Mother-Baby Pack is very important to me because it could prevent my baby from getting the virus.”
Malekena's story continues, with a happy ending for her daughter. Read more here.
You can help mothers like Malekena today by purchasing a Mother-Baby Pack - ensuring that more children are born healthy, happy and free of HIV.
