Sam’s mother was two months pregnant when she joined a Kiunga support group for young mothers living with HIV. She hadn’t been to the antenatal clinic yet, but Lucy, the community health leader of the group, encouraged her to attend her first clinic, where she tested positive for HIV.
Fearing the worst, Mama Sam says, “All I knew is I wanted my child to be born healthy, but I was afraid that I would get sick and that my child would not survive.”
At the clinic, the nurses and doctors explained how critical it was for her to immediately start and stay on HIV treatment – both for her own health and for the survival of her baby.
She began taking the medicine right away. Her husband, though a bit cynical at the time, supported her every step of the way. “He was with me so well throughout my whole pregnancy,” she remembers. “He came with me to every clinic visit, he provided the money for the regular checkups to make sure our baby was HIV-negative, and he reminded me every day to take my medicine.”
“At the support group, other women were giving testimonies of how they had their HIV-negative babies and this gave me hope each day.”
- Mama Sam
Seven months later, Sam was born HIV-free!
“I was so very happy,” she recalls. “I was so thankful to God, to all the health care workers that helped us along the way, and to Kiunga for starting a group of young mothers living with HIV where I have been getting my daily encouragement.”