Notes from the Field

It's time for an overdue update!  Lots has been happening, but I've been struggling to write lately, to encompass all the love and wonder into words that will make sense.  I'm going through a phase of unparalleled growth this summer, swimming in uncharted oceans of thought.  So many new experiences and ideas are shaping me that my words just can't quite keep up sometimes.  Instead of waiting for the words to come, I'm just going to share some notes from my field notebook-- these semi-organized thoughts are scribbled into my favorite Moleskine, jotted down quickly as a nurse translated a patient's story to me or leisurely copied in from the health facts posters on the walls, I put anything in this notebook that caught my interest and inspired me to want to learn more.

Here are a few notes from the field:

-So surprised to learn from study nurse that many people in Nairobi think HIV is WITCHCRAFT.  I have read about this and thought it was only a common belief in rural areas- not urban, educated, young, smart, NAIROBI..

-When a woman relies on her husband for financial support, it's so hard for them to disclose their HIV status to him.  If he finds out she's "positive" and he gets tested and he's not, he might be supportive, but he might just leave and start a new life.  Where does that leave her?

-BREASTFEEDING IS BEST. Back at UW-Madison I learned in a World Hunger & Malnutrition class about the WHO's recommendations for breastfeeding in HIV positive women, and now I'm seeing the recommendations change lives on a personal level- it's so cool to have my classes come alive like this!

-Mixed feeding, giving the baby breastmilk in addition to other foods or liquids, is extremely common in Kenya but is NOT good in this situation!  It doubles the risk of HIV infection being passed from mother to baby compared to an exclusively breastfed child.  For my science geeks out there, it has to do with dietary antigens and enteric pathogens that the baby is introduced to if they get and foods or liquids other than breastmilk breaking down the intestinal mucosal barrier so the HIV infection can get in, and with the modulation of immune responses in the infant.

-Exclusive replacement feeding (not breastfeeding at all, to avoid giving the baby the HIV virus) DOUBLES the likelihood that the baby will die from other infections (like diarrhea and pneumonia) by 6 months of age.  Mama's milk protects the baby!

-New ARV (antiretroviral) therapy for the Mommas can cut the risk of HIV transmission through breastmilk to less than 5%... this is great news!

-I just want every Kenyan baby to grow up as happy and healthy as Sakina and Suleiman!