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A FRESH Start 
A FRESH Start: A Future Realized through Education, Support and Healthcare, is an exciting new program being implemented at The Witkoppen Health and Welfare Centre (Witkoppen) which optimizes health outcomes for new mothers and their babies. A FRESH start is a comprehensive post natal program of testing, healthcare, education and support provided to new mothers and their babies from birth through 18 months of age. Modeled in large part upon the very successful and pioneering Mamenangane (mother and child) Clinic at McCord Hospital, this program ensures that newborns are given the best chance for a fresh start to life and a healthy future, while also promoting the ongoing health of the mother.
The Need
 Tremendous progress has been made in reducing vertical transmission of HIV from mother to child with the success of PMTCT (prevention of mother to child transmission). McCord Hospital and Witkoppen are both prime examples of two outstanding PMTCT programs, which remain key to achieving an AIDS free generation. However, PMTCT does not end with delivery. To ensure healthy outcomes long range, both mother and baby need to be periodically retested and should remain in care for 18 months post delivery.
The continuation of comprehensive medical and psychosocial care is particularly important with an indigent population, where the risk of re-infection and the health care needs of the young child remain high. Witkoppen data from 2012 reveals that while only .07% of their newborns tested positive at 6 weeks of age, by 18 months that number had increased to 3.3%. Failure to retest all children at 18 months means we will miss out on these new infections and children could fall seriously ill and die. And it is equally important that we ensure the ongoing health of the mother, to ensure that the baby does not become another orphan statistic.
Due to funding limitations, Witkoppen’s post natal clinic was previously available to only mothers and babies who attended their ante natal clinic (approximately 2000 in 2013), and then only for the first 10 weeks of life. In 2012 alone this left more than 500 women with newborn babies unable to access any post natal care, and an even larger number of women and infants who didn’t receive any post natal care or testing after 10 weeks of age, putting their health in jeopardy.
The Response
A FRESH Start provides a future for moms and babies through education, support and healthcare, by offering comprehensive, integrated post natal care for 18 months to all women and newborns in need. This model of care is key to promoting positive health for mom and baby, and also key to PMTCT, as through repeat testing we can capture HIV negative women who become newly infected and immediately initiate them onto treatment. Additionally, it allows us to test the newborn at the earliest point in time to see if the mother has transmitted the virus and then initiate treatment—the key to a child’s survival and long-term health.
In addition to repeat testing of both mother and child, A FRESH Start will provide routine care, education and support to new moms, including: annual pap smears; routine check ups; ARV treatment and adherence support for those that are HIV positive: breast feeding education and support; psycho social support; and education on parenting skills and good nutrition. All newborns will receive repeat testing for HIV (and treatment at the pediatric HIV clinic if needed); their full schedule of immunizations; routine check ups ; and evaluation of all developmental milestones.
- Click here to donate and help give women and children A FRESH Start for a healthy future!
"Of all the forces that make for a better world, none is so indispensable,
none so powerful, as hope."
— Charles W. Sawyer |
