Mumbai: Over 1,000 HIV+ women give birth to HIV-negative babies in two years

Kavita lost her first child to HIV but has since gone on to have two healthy kids PicsSneha KharabeHundreds of women across Mumbai are discovering that even though they are HIVpositive that is no reason to be negative about the future Now only their babies are negative ndash HIVnegative that is Thanks to an effective programme Prevention of MotherToChild Transmission launched in 2014 over 1000 infected women have given birth to HIVnegative babies in the past two years bringing a ray of hope to many couples who want to become parentsLiving with HIV human immunodeficiency virus is not easy and it is even harder on couples who dream of becoming parents but fear passing on the virus to their children But thanks to a new treatment scheme these couples now have better than 90 chances of giving birth to a perfectly healthy HIVnegative babyTitled lsquoPrevention of MotherToChild Transmission PMTCTrsquo the scheme was launched in 2014 when the Joint United Nations Programme on HIVAIDS UNAIDS committed to ambitious testing and treatment targets to combat the AIDS epidemicThe international organisation launched the 909090 scheme in the same year aiming for 90 early diagnosis 90 patients on treatment and 90 suppression of virus by the year 2020Since the beginning of this programme a total of 1031 infected women have given birth and in 991 cases the babies were HIVnegative This means that the babies were untouched by the virus in nine out of ten casesldquoOut of the 1031 pregnant women with HIV 90 of them delivered healthy HIVnegative babies by using proper medication If they are given treatment at the proper time we can prevent passing the infection to the babiesHowever it is essential to take the medicines on timerdquo said Dr Srikala Acharya director of Maharashtra State Aids Control Society MSACS which provided the figuresCouples come forwardFollowing the success rate and as awareness grows among people many HIVinfected couples have finally gained the confidence to fulfil their dream of having children ldquoWe are receiving several HIVinfected couples who want to have children It is a big success against HIVrdquo said Acharya adding that it also helps that the number of HIVpositive patients is also gradually falling so fewer and fewer mothers are now infected According to figures from MSACS the number of HIVinfected mothers has gone down by 50 in the past five yearsHardly childrsquos playBut the programme comes with its own challenges and the biggest one is keeping track of the pregnant women If they stop their medication midway or donrsquot follow a strict schedule with the medicines or checkups at the treatment centres the whole thing can fall to piecesldquoWe hold regular counselling for the pregnant women who come to our centres so that they continue to take the medicine without any gap But many times they donrsquot show up at the centres and we have to keep track of them In such cases our field workers go to their houses to convince them to stick to the regimerdquo said Sunita Bhosale a social worker at the AntiRetroviral Treatment ART centre in KEM HospitalThe field workers go to the patientsrsquo houses and check their medicine intake They also keep tabs on new mothers as breastfeeding can also pass on HIV ldquoWe provide the mothers with vouchers to buy milk powder We then collect these vouchers from the vendors to check if the mothers are buying milk and not breastfeeding the babies We pay the vendors directlyrdquo said Poonam Patkar project director at Committed Communities Development Trust an NGO working for HIVinfected mothers and children But therersquos no doubt their efforts are paying off As Patkar said ldquoThese new guidelines under the 909090 scheme has worked wonders in controlling infection among mothers and their infantsrdquoLifechanging experienceAnita name changed was just 17 years old when her gave her hand in marriage to a man who was HIVpositive But Anita was kept in the dark for six months until she too fell prey to the virus She divorced her husband and he eventually succumbed to the infection few years laterBut Anitarsquos life took a beautiful turn when her childhood friend proposed to her After turning him down several times she finally agreed to the marriage and in 2014 she gave birth to their first child who was born HIVnegative After the delivery her husband was also tested for HIV but was found negativeldquoI was scared at the thought of having a child First I considered invitro fertilisation IVF but my husband didnrsquot agree I was really scared that he would get infected during sex So we consulted HIV experts followed their instructions and got our first childrdquo said Anita who is now 28 years oldldquoI wasnrsquot under antiretroviral treatment until I was pregnant I took one medicine regularly and 72 hours before my delivery they gave me a medicine that doesnrsquot allow the virus to pass on to the childrdquolsquoNew hope in my lifersquoKavita 32 had already experienced the pain of losing her first child to HIV when he was just a year old in 2005 That was when she found out that her husband had been carrying the virus but never informed her thus exposing both her and their child A year later disaster struck again and her husband also succumbed to the infectionIn 2010 she married an infected man through the HIV marriage bureau and two years later she gave birth to their daughter born HIVnegative Again in July she gave birth to a son who is also HIVnegativeldquoDuring my pregnancy I continued with the ART treatment that helps in controlling the virus and doesnrsquot infect the foetus I used to take the medicine twice a day Csection also decreased the chances of passing on the virus Now both my children are HIVnegative which has added new hope in my liferdquo she said