The challenge

Tragically, one in ten pregnant women in Malawi is HIV-positive, with mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS accounting for more than a quarter of the country’s new infections.

The solutions we're proposing 

W4’s field project, mothers2mothers, is combatting the country’s HIV/AIDS crisis by preventing mother-to-child transmission of the virus. Through its innovative “Mentor Mother” model, the organization trains HIV-positive mothers in the prevention of mother-to-child transmission and later employs these women to offer health education and psychosocial support for other expectant and new mothers in their communities who are also living with HIV. During one-on-one peer education and group support sessions with these Mentor Mothers, women are given vital information and introduced to preventive measures necessary to help ensure that their babies are born HIV-negative.

To further promote the health of mothers and their babies, nutritious meals are provided during these support groups and the women are taught how intricately HIV and nutrition are intertwined. For example, while HIV can itself exacerbate malnutrition, a poor diet lacking essential micronutrients can also speed up HIV’s progression to AIDS. Further, there is evidence that malnutrition can cause antiretroviral drugs to be less effective.

Every pregnant woman requires extra calories and nutrients to sustain herself and her growing baby—but pregnant women living with HIV need even more vitamins, minerals and calories owing in part to the higher levels of energy they expend as well as to the difficulty they may have absorbing nutrients. These nutritious meals and lessons on proper nutrition are thus essential to keeping the mothers and their babies alive and well.

The impact of your gift 

You can grant a group of mothers living with HIV access to adequate nutrition and help increase their and their infants’ chances for success in treatment programs! By offering women such nutritional support you help ensure the effectiveness of their antiretroviral treatments and assist in dramatically lowering Malawi’s HIV incidence!