Mothers2Mothers
“Is a mentoring programme offering comprehensive support for HIV-positive pregnant women and new mothers. Mentor mother Monoang Mohakala said, “in short, we see in them our input and they are HEROES in our lives.”
Preventing the transmission of HIV from a mother to a child is a straightforward medical procedure. Its simplest application, a single dose of medication to a mother during labor and a dose to her infant shortly after birth, can cut transmission risk nearly in half.
Sub-Saharan Africa show the highest statistics of mothers and babies infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. Worldwide, 1% of pregnant women are HIV-positive, 95% of these women live in Sub-Saharan Africa. Without care, about 24% of mothers transmit the virus to their newborns, and each year about 3 million of these children will die from HIV/AIDS-related illnesses.
Dr Mitchell Besser
Founded by Dr. Mitchell Besser in 2001, mothers2mothers has developed from a single support group in Cape Town to a multinational NGO with 680 sites in seven countries in sub-Saharan Africa. As a gynecologist working with at-risk pregnant women in both California and South Africa, he served as a consultant for the clinical roll-out of Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT).
While working at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, he realised that even when medical treatment was available to these women, it was often less than effective because of social, emotional and psychological barriers to success.
To help break through those barriers, Dr Besser enlisted other new mothers living openly with HIV/AIDS who, as Mentor Mothers, began to connect with and educate their pregnant peers. The result of these efforts is mothers2mothers today.
In the years since Besser’s first efforts, the growth of the programme has been nothing short of extraordinary. The mothers2mothers model has become something of a touchstone for PMTCT services, frequently cited as a leading model by international health care heads.
In addition, it has captured the attention of major funding partners including USAID/PEPFAR and NPI, Atlantic Philanthropies, UNICEF, Johnson & Johnson, Bickerstaff Family Foundation, Merck to well-known figures such as fashion designer and AMFAR chair Kenneth Cole, Sir Elton John and senior elected officials from across the political spectrum.
Mothers2mothers (m2m) is a sustainable model of education, support and advocacy to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV. They enlist mothers living with HIV who have completed a pregnancy. These Mentor Mothers, serve as peer mentors and educators to HIV-positive pregnant women and HIV-positive women who have recently given birth.
Mentor Mothers
Mentor Mothers are trained by mothers2mothers certified trainers using a rigorous training curriculum, and are then employed and paid as integral, valuable and professional members of the health care team. They serve a 13 month term, allowing a new group of Mentor Mothers to be hired, trained and empowered each year.
By design, mothers2mothers sites are co-located within medical care facilities already providing PMTCT services, and therefore mothers2mothers provides complimentary services within existing structures. When a woman arrives for her first antenatal visit, she is paired with a Mentor Mother. This Mentor Mother performs an assessment to determine what the client understands about HIV and its ramifications for her health, her child’s health, and her life, and all the factors that influence her living.
Mothers2mothers was developed in response to perceived medical and social needs to keep mothers in care after delivery. To address these factors, mothers2mothers also speaks to the post-partum woman’s questions and needs with regard to feeding, accessing family health care, and adjusting to life in the community as a woman and mother living with HIV.
Recognising the importance of extending the programme into the community, townships, and villages, mothers2mothers also utilises the seasoned skills and talents of Mentor Mothers to provide community education and outreach on topics related to reproductive health, especially HIV/AIDS.
Where required, Site Co-ordinators and Mentor Mothers travel to client’s homes and/or invite family members to a mothers2mothers location in order to provide education and support to women who are disclosing their HIV status. In addition, mothers2mothers adapts to rural health care settings where women cannot travel to the nearest health care facility for ANC visits and/or delivery, playing an integral role in promoting ARV therapy adherence.
SUPPORT this Work. Your contribution will create an opportunity for a women living with HIV to become fully educated and supported in order to ensure her child is born HIV-free. This is done by providing her with a uniquely qualified, trained and paid “Mentor Mother.” Clients are given a powerful partner to help empower and guide in making healthy choices for herself and her family.”
