MAMA+ Supports 100 HIV-Affected Babies In Russia

Dear friends,

MAMA+ project staff members continue to provide support to women and children affected by HIV.
We would like to extend our gratitude to you for your trust and support of our work, and tell about people we work with. The ultimate goal of our work is to ensure family support, healthcare, safety and well-being for children affected by HIV.
Today we are happy to share a follow-up story about Alina whose family continues to receive a comprehensive psychosocial assistance under the MAMA+ project.
Regular consultations by the project psychologist helped Alina strengthen her self-esteem, overcome a number of problems, including codependent behavior. The woman got an official divorce from her husband, and due to the support of the organization’s legal expert registered for spousal support. However, the man has no permanent employment: he is unable to provide any financial support to the family. Nor is he interested in the future of his children.
The woman is actively engaged in care and development of her children. All of them have medical conditions. Her younger sons were diagnosed delays in development, speech function disorders. According to medical specialists, the boys are in need of a continuous intake of costly medications that the family cannot afford given their financial hardships. Her older son is under regular check-up by a psychiatrist, also in need of continuous treatment and medical monitoring, and goes to a correction school. Alina’s younger daughter is allergic and needs specialized milk formulas and dietary foods.
Due to the project support, Alina registered for social allowances, however this money is only enough to buy food for her kids. Clothes and learning toys and games for children, supplies for school are provided to the family as items of DTC’s humanitarian aid.
Alina brings her children to the MAMA+ Center regularly for child development sessions. The project psychologist confirms significant progress in their development and the quality of interaction between the mother and children. Alina loves her children much and wants to be a good mother. The woman has attended a cycle of sessions under Healthy Lifestyles and Digital Literacy programs conducted by the project staff members. This training strengthened her social skills and competences. Now she takes more care of her and her children’s health. She regularly attends the AIDS Center for medical examinations and takes ARV therapy. Upon improving her computer skills, the woman found a work-at-home job. Unfortunately, almost all the money earned is spent on renting the apartment (Alina and her children have recently moved here from their relatives). Due to financial hardships, the woman has accumulated arrears in paying for her housing.

MAMA+ social worker and legal expert are assisting Alina in applying for social housing. We hope that everything will be alright, and the woman will be able to raise their children on her own soon without support of the project staff members. Let us unite our efforts in helping this wonderful mother and her children.

Dear friends,

MAMA+ Project staff members continue to provide support to women and children living with HIV.
We would like to thank you for your trust, support and participation, and tell you about people we work with. The overriding goal of our work is to retain family support for children affected by the problem of HIV, as well as protect their health and ensure their safety and wellbeing.
Today, we are happy to tell you a story of a family which is currently in acute need of your support.

Alina is 31. She was referred to the MAMA+ Project by staff members of the government AIDS Center. Alina has four children. She gave birth to her first baby when she was 22. The boy is healthy – he was born when Alina had no HIV. Her partner left her, and she had to earn to gain livelihoods on her own for herself and her baby. She used to work as a waitress, and her mother and sister used to help her. Despite the challenges, Alina was able to become a good mother. The boy was doing well, and now Alexey is nine: he has good performance at school and helps his mom – they are in warm relationships with each other.
In 2014, Alina met Nikolai and married him. The man had criminal past and history of using IV drugs. In 2015, during a medical examination, Alina learned that she was HIV-positive. Her husband was insisting on that he was healthy and it was a mistake made by medical workers (however, later it was revealed that he had HIV and infected her through a sexual contact). Alina could not believe it for a long time. Nor could she accept the diagnosis. That was the reason why she did not register with the AIDS Center, was not examined and did not receive ARVT. In two years, when she was pregnant, she finally registered with the AIDS Center, but refused to accept the diagnosis and take the therapy. In 2017, Alina gave birth to a boy. Unfortunately, he was tested HIV-positive. She took hard the fact that the infection was transmitted to the baby. She was taking care of him, but the feeling of guilt led her to the depression, and her relationships with her husband got worse.
Alina applied to MAMA+. The project staff enrolled the family in the project and started to provide them with comprehensive services. Alina received medical examinations, and started to take the therapy.

The project psychologist and social worker visited the family regularly, monitoring the development and health status of the child. Alina was attending the project psychologist, and the family was provided with material assistance.
In alcohol intoxication, her husband used to beat her. The project staff members provided Alina with consultations on behavior strategies to prevent domestic violence, developing a safety plan, an offered her emergency accommodation in a social apartment. However, Alina did not want her children to grow up without a father, and was trying to improve relationships with her husband. Besides, she was in economic dependence on her partner. The project staff members were able to persuade Alina’s partner to apply for medical support in addressing the problem of substance abuse. Gradually, the family relationships were getting better. In 2019, Alina gave birth to a son, and a year later – a daughter. Both children are healthy.

Unfortunately, with the outburst of the pandemic, Nikolai lost his job. The family was short of money for meals, children’s clothes. Nikolai relapsed to alcohol and started to beat the woman. Recently, Alina made an important decision – to break up with the aggressor. She moved with her children to their relatives. Presently, she is off work, and the only family income source is children’s allowances. The family fell into crisis. MAMA+ staff members assist Alina actively: psychological consultations, child development and health diagnostics, arrangements of a lawyer’s consultations in divorce and child support issues, registration for allowances and benefits, and humanitarian aid.

Despite the difficult situation, Alina is taking care of her kids. Trying to overcome the challenges, she works from home, but the money earned is just enough for meals. Her babies are in acute need of good nutrition, baby-care items, clothes

We hope for your support and participation. Let us support this family together – Alina and her four wonderful children.

Dear Friends,

We would like to express our heartfelt and sincere thanks to you for supporting our project! Together with you, we are working to improve the lives of most vulnerable HIV-affected women and their young children. This is due to your active participation and commitment that the children are ensured family support and most needed care.

We are wishing good health and wellbeing to all of you and your families! May your life be filled with joyful moments, rewarding experience, and good works!

Let the coming 2022 bring you only pleasant events, inspiration and new achievements!

With warmest holiday wishes,
Doctors to Children

Dear friends,

The summer is almost gone… However, stories of families and children supported by the MAMA+ project staff members are not ending. 

First of all, we would like to thank you for supporting our work and update you on our activities. This summer, we started to hold sessions for HIV-positive women to develop their digital skills and financial competences. At the sessions, the young mothers learn to use video communication applications, pay utility bills, register for children’s allowances and make a medical appointment online, apply for banking products, and ensure personal safety on the internet. We also launched a peer mentorship program: women who overcame the crisis successfully and accepted their diagnosis will support those who have just learned about their HIV status.

Here is a story of a family who is presently in acute need of our help.

Annais22. She contacted MAMA+ right after giving birth to a child. Anna comes from Kemerovo. Upon graduating the orphanage, she used to stay at her friends’, as she had no housing on her own and took no steps to enforce her housing rights. In 2020, Anna met a young man who infected her with HIV. He was addicted to drugs and tried to engage Anna in drug use and distribution. The girl decided to escape from this situation, and in 2020 she moved to St. Petersburg. She settled in a rehabilitation center where she used to reside and carry out casual works (dish wash, cooking, etc.). Shortly upon her move, Anna found that she was pregnant. At the premature clinic, she was informed she had HIV. Refusing to accept the diagnosis, Anna did not attend the AIDS Center while she was pregnant. Nor she took the medication to prevent the transmission of HIV to her child.

The baby was premature. Upon his birth, Vitya was placed in children’s hospital where he received preventive treatment. MAMA+ staff members made a visit to the maternity hospital in order to prevent the woman from abandoning her child and provide her with crisis support.

After the baby was discharged from the hospital, the project staff visiting the family pointed out that the woman had no skills of baby care, could not assess the boy’s needs. Besides, the child is not registered with the AIDS Center and the children’s outpatient hospital. The woman is out of the medical monitoring either, as she did not accept the diagnosis. The project responded with active patronage of the family. Several times a week, the staff members make visits to the family, examining the baby, bringing food and baby formulas. The project psychologist provides the woman with consultations on accepting the diagnosis and baby care issues. Within a month, the project staff registered Anna and her baby at the AIDS Center and the outpatient clinic. The woman received medical examinations and tests and started to take the therapy. The boy took the first PCR testing for HIV which did not reveal the infection. Wehopethatthebabyishealthy. The project assisted Anna in registering for allowances, arranging space for her son, purchasing clothes and child care items. We also involved legal experts to assist Anna in addressing the housing issue. 

Now Vitya is still weak and needs specialized milk formulas and medication. The medical examination revealed nervous system disorders and weight deficit.

We believe that due to your support we will help Anna become a wonderful mother, turn confident and independent, to make sure that Vitya can grow a healthy and happy boy in his family.

Dear friends!
We would like to provide you with the updates on the MAMA+ project and thank you for your support and trust.

The MAMA+ project staff members continue to provide assistance to HIV-affected women with children. Due to the pandemic, we do not organize onsite peer support groups and sessions for mothers. For safety reasons, the sessions of the School for Young Mothers, peer support groups, and most consultations are held online. Several times a week, the specialists visit the families in difficult life situations: these have no opportunities for attending the MAMA+ Center, join online counseling, and are in need of humanitarian aid. During the home visits, the project team (psychologist, social worker, pediatrician) provide women with consultations on medical and social issues, support them in arranging everything for the baby, conduct diagnostics of child development, assess interactions between the mother and the child, and train mothers in childcare.
We would like to tell you a story of one of the families enrolled in the MAMA+ project in January 2021..
Marina is 19. She contacted the project for psychological support. Marina is a mother of twin sons, 1.5 years old. She learned about her diagnosis at the primary examination during her pregnancy. The woman was registered with the AIDS Center to receive the therapy. She is in need of psychological support in accepting her diagnosis. Also, she is worried if she is capable of being a good mother.
Marina has experience of residing in an orphanage. Her parents abused alcohol and were deprived of their parental rights. A child, she was exposed to physical violence on the part of her father. Now the family is living in a room of a communal apartment she was provided upon leaving the orphanage. Marina and her partner are trying to purchase everything for child care and development, however the family is facing financial hardships. The only source of income for the family is children’s allowances and the partner’s occasional earnings with the lack of permanent employment.
The children were born prematurely, with nervous system disorders resulting in the developmental delays. MAMA+ staff provide the family with psychosocial and material assistance in the form of breast milk substitutes and babycare items. The babies are in need of medical examinations and tests, medication, physical therapy and specialized milk formulas.

Let’s help Marina and her babies get over this hard period!