Contrary to emerging evidence which has proved that HIV-positive women who breastfeed maximise their babies’ health prospects, Nigerian mothers living with the infection are still evading the exercise.
 
Until recently, the World Health Organisation (WHO) advised HIV-positive mothers to avoid breastfeeding if they were able to afford, prepare and store formula milk safely.
 
But, research has since emerged that shows that a combination of exclusive breastfeeding and the use of antiretroviral treatment can significantly reduce the risk of transmitting HIV to babies through breastfeeding.
 
A visit to the Heart to Heart Centre (H2H) of the Badagry General Hospital, Lagos State by The Journalists’ Alliance for the Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV in Nigeria (JAPiN) shows why mothers living with HIV are denying their babies breastfeeding.
 
At H2H, some mothers that were at the centre for post-natal care spoke to INDEPENDENT said that they were not breastfeeding their babies because of fear infecting them with HIV.

Read more https://independent.ng/hiv-fear-force-mothers-to-shun-breastfeeding/