HIV positive mothers told to seek help

By Bryan Tumwa

Kakamega County: HIV positive mothers have been asked to seek skilled medical care to avoid transmitting the virus to the newborns.

Arnold Otieno, a grants officer at National Empowerment Network of People Living with HIV and Aids (Nephak) said the high number of new infections among newborns was due to lack appropriate care during delivery.

“Of the total number of children born to HIV positive mothers nationally, 43 per cent are positive. This is because  women don’t attend antenatal clinics and most of them  opt to give birth under unskilled care,” he said.

Free maternity

A study carried out by Nephak between 2009 and 2012 found out that out of a total of one million births in the country, about 6.7 per cent of them are born to HIV positive mothers.

The finding also showed that rural areas are the most affected because as women in these areas usually rely traditional midwives when giving birth.

Otieno urged women to take advantage of the free maternity services offered in public hospitals as well as seek treatment early to reduce the chances of infecting their babies. “Our target is to reduce maternal deaths by 50 per cent and eliminate mother to child transmission to below five per cent,” he noted.