Hats off to Pamela Morrison for her brilliant work in the field of HIV and
breastfeeding!
For many years I have had the privilege of working alongside Prof Anna
Coutsoudis, who has done much of the ground breaking research around HIV
and breastfeeding. I ran the iThemba Lethu Breast Milk Bank she set up in
Durban South Africa, for babies orphaned as a result of HIV. These babies
are cared for in a transition home, until they are adopted into loving
families. Time after time we saw miracles unfolding before our eyes when
these sick babies arrived in the home and were started on donated human
milk. Often these babies had been well cared for in other institutions, but
were not growing well. Once on breast milk they thrived, gained weight, the
recurrent infections abated, the diarrhoea so common with HIV infections,
stopped. Skin conditions, especially eczema, improved dramatically. If we
ran out of donor milk and they went back onto formula, which fortunately
happened infrequently, the diarrhoea began again- so did the eczema.
Breast milk dramatically changed the quality of life of these babies,
reduced their suffering, provided optimal health for them and it was a life
changing for me. We may not be able to "see" the difference between breast
milk and artificial formula in healthy infants, but just because it is not
immediately apparent, it does not mean it is not there.
I'm currently a PhD candidate, working on a study around supporting HIV
infected mothers to exclusively breastfeed. These babies thrive and do so
well, the risk of transmission is minimal. Admittedly, we are in a
developing country. But if I found myself to be HIV infected and pregnant,
there is no doubt in my mind that I would choose to exclusively breastfeed.
My 2 cents worth..
Penny Reimers
IBCLC
Durban, South Africa
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