Browsing by Author "Mwenda, Wezi Longwe"

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    Experiences of HIV positive mothers who stop breast feeding at six months at Limbe clinic.
    (Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, 2009-12-04) Mwenda, Wezi Longwe
    The transmission of HIV from a mother to her child is one of the most tragic aspects of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. World Health Organization advocates for early cessation of breastfeeding by HIV infected mothers, followed by replacement feeds in order to prevent mother to child transmission of HIV. For most HIV infected mothers in developing countries, following this recommendation represents a big dilemma because of several factors. On one hand, health care providers expect mothers to abide by WHO's recommendations in order to reduce the risk of HIV transmission to their infants. On the other hand, PMTCT enrolled 11101hers go back home to a society where those recommendations are found to be practically, socially and culturally unacceptable and irrelevant. This study explored Experiences of HIV positive mothers who stop breastfeeding at six months. The aim was to find out what experiences these mothers go through, with a view of making recommendations that would help to improve PMTCT programmes, thereby empowering women in matters concerning HIV/AIDS and infant feeding choices. The study focused on mothers that enrolled in the Prevention of Mother To Child Transmission of HIV programs at Limbe health centre, in Blantyre district. Qualitative study design was used on a sample of ten participants, who were recruited using convenience sampling method. An interview guide was used as a data collection tool and data was analysed manually using content analysis. The study revealed that early cessation of breast feeding as a feeding option to PMTCT of HIV is the best choice that HIV positive mothers can make. However, these mothers face a lot of challenges in form of stigma, discrimination and dealing with inquisitive people. Lack of material and financial resources, babies crying a lot and frequently falling sick are also some of the challenges encountered in relation to the weaned children. The study also revealed the big role that health workers or counsellors played in facilitating early cessation for it to be a success in the studied population. Based on the findings, relevant recommendations were made to all stake holders like the community, health workers, spouses and family members, government, MOHP, donors, non-governmental organizations, research organizations and many more, with the aim of improving PMTCT strategies like early cessation.