Ntaseka's Clinic has found that 7% of women tested at the clinic are HIV+. Many of these women will have children which currently are being delivered at home with a great possibility of transmitting the HIV status to their newborn babies. With the addition of the maternity ward these women who will have attended the clinic for pre-natal care will be able to deliver in the new maternity ward where they will receive properly medical care so that the do not convey their status to their child.
The Ntaseka Clinic services150 young women with an average age of 24 years who are receiving anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs to control their HIV+ status. Some of these women will become pregnant. The problem is to keep the mothers from conveying their HIV+ status to their newborn children. Presently these women will give birth at home increasing the likelihood of them transmitting their HIV+ status to the children. Moreover any complications from the pregnancy will negatively impact the mothers.
With the completion of this maternity ward at the Ntaseka Clinic, women who are HIV+ will be able to give birth in the maternity ward. This will allow them to receive professional care in hygienic conditions. Moreover they will be counseled on how to prevent HIV+ transmission to their newborn babies and properly care for their children. The maternity ward is now completed. We need now medical equiment and additional staff for the maternity and hospitalization new services.
In a poor country such as Burundi, it is a tragedy when a new-born child receives the AIDS virus from his/her mother. This will result in a lifelong challenge of accommodating to the child's HIV+ status. Every child that can be prevented from contacting the virus from his/her mother will be a tremendous benefit to that child. But it will also benefit the health of the general population where AIDS treatment consumes a large percentage of the scarce health services.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
