PMTCT At Work: The Story of Michelle

DECEMBER 2004 — Michelle is a 29-year-old Guyanese teacher with an 11-year-old son and a 10-month-old daughter. * Michelle is also HIV-positive.

In 2003 she lost her four-year-old son to AIDS. He had been tested and diagnosed as HIV-positive in 2001 after he was hospitalized with a high fever. His doctor encouraged Michelle to also get tested, but she was afraid to find out her results. Michelle had also lost a son in 1999 to bronchial pneumonia, but at the time nobody had suggested testing him for HIV infection.

At the time of her four-year-old's death, Michelle had already given birth to her daughter. During this latest pregnancy, though, Michelle attended an antenatal clinic in Georgetown—and things turned out very differently. Nurses and counselors at the Dorothy Bailey Clinic, one of the first in Georgetown to offer prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) services under a Ministry of Health initiative, convinced Michelle of the value of taking an HIV test prior to the birth. 

When Michelle's test came back positive, as she had suspected it would, she took the results in stride. The nurses at Dorothy Bailey were caring, and soon Michelle began to feel as if she had found a new family. They encouraged her to join a support group of HIV-positive mothers who meet at Dorothy Bailey, and this has been of great comfort to her.

Michelle gave birth to a healthy baby girl in October 2003 and was given nevirapine prior to the birth, while her daughter received the infant dose of nevirapine within the stipulated 72-hour period after the birth. Michelle had also been told of the prevention benefits of exclusive breastfeeding for three months or of breast milk substitute; she opted to give her baby the latter. At 10 months her daughter is healthy and active, but Michelle knows that she must wait until her daughter receives her 18-month HIV test to be certain of the girl's serostatus.

At a recent Guyana HIV/AIDS Reduction and Prevention (GHARP) Project workshop, Michelle told her story, the first time she has disclosed her status publicly. Michelle recounted her experienced with stigma and discrimination in her workplace and from members of her family. She has not disclosed her status to her mother or her partner because she fears their reaction: "My mother will be devastated." She is hopeful as she continues to attend counseling sessions and speak publicly about her condition that she will gain the strength to talk to her mother and her partner. Disclosing her status has brought her "a lot of love" as she makes new friends.

* Due to HIV/AIDS stigma concerns in Guyana, FHI does not use Michelle's real name.

Photo: (Andrea Rohlehr-McAdam/GHARP)