Preventing HIV in South African Babies

The World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) is the greatest outreach vehicle for the breastfeeding movement being celebrated in over 120 countries. Officially it is celebrated from 1 - 7 August.

Children’s Rights Centre in partnership with the Yezingane Network would like to stress out the importance of Breast feeding to all mothers and those still expecting, especially the HIV-positive mothers.

In the past HIV-positive women were discouraged from breastfeeding (told not to breastfeed). They were told to formula feed their babies. However, nowadays the South African Department of Health encourages HIV-positive women to breastfeed for 12 months, if she is covered by three antiretroviral medicines (ART) while breastfeeding and her baby receives six weeks of Nevirapine, or if her baby receives Nevirapine for the entire breastfeeding period (and up to one week after she last breastfeeds)

HIV Positive mothers are encouraged to exclusively breastfeed their babies, meaning they must only give their babies breastmilk (and the medicine prescribed by the doctor or clinic) and nothing else (no other fluids like water, tea, formula, juice or food) until your baby is 6 months old. If you don’t exclusively breastfeed (i.e. you give your baby breastmilk and other foods or liquids) it is called mixed feeding. Mixed feeding poses a risk, as the other substances may irritate your baby’s stomach and cause small cuts, which will increase the risk of your baby getting HIV.

Benefits of breast feeding:

Breast feeding has many benefits for the mother and baby. Some of the benefits are listed below:

• Breastmilk is the perfect food for your baby; you don’t need to give him or her anything else for the first 6 months of life.
• Breastmilk is free and always available, so breastfeeding saves money and time
• Breastmilk is hygienic (clean), so breastfeeding reduces the risk of your baby getting sick (or even dying) from illnesses like diarrhoea
• Breastmilk contain antibodies to strengthen your baby’s immune system, helping him or her to stay healthy, grow and develop well and to recover quicker after being sick
• Breastmilk protects your baby’s stomach lining helping it to “block” infections
• Breastfeeding also makes it easier for you to establish a bond between you and the baby.

Even if you choose to formula feed your baby, you should not give him or her complimentary foods until 6 months of age, and that your baby will still receive Nevirapine for 6 weeks after birth.

By protecting, promoting and supporting breastfeeding, YOU can contribute to each of the MDGs in a substantial way. Exclusive breastfeeding and adequate complementary feeding are key interventions for improving child survival, potentially saving about 20% of children under five.

“Remember that the benefits are the same for HIV-positive or negative women”