Int Conf AIDS 2004 Jul 11-16; 15:(abstract no. D10331)
Soletti SL University, Coimbatore, India
The paper will highlight the problems of mothers living with HIV/AIDS with special reference to the upbringing of children. Introduction: Women play a main role in the upbringing of children. Women are not only the main care givers of the family, but are also responsible for food production, labour and child rearing. They act as the backbone of the family, supporting the entire system and provide care to all its members. The role of a woman in a family is multifaceted: wife, mother, daughter-in-law, care provider and extends further based on the family needs. The burden of the entire family is shouldered by the woman if her husband contracts HIV. The sudden loss or decrease in the family's income, the stress of taking care of the husbands illness, her own diminishing health condition and the threat of sudden death of a loved one becomes an impossible burden to bear. Moreover the psychological trauma increases in a woman when she discovers that one or more oh her children have been infected by AIDS through mother to child transmission. Guilt combined with a feeling of inability to combat the situation causes a major setback in a wo man's life. Hence it is important to analyse the role of a woman as an infected wife and /or infected mother who takes an extra care and burden to rear the infected as well as the healthy children with or without the necessary support system. Content: The paper analyses the following main segments about the mothers living with HIV * Socio-Economic and Family profile * Health condition of the mothers * Ability to provide support needs to the children * Support systems * Case studies Major findings were: * Most suffer economic crisis * Majority of the mothers lack in providing care to the child * Prolonged hospitalisation paves a way for the child being exploited alone at home * Limited support available to the mothers especially from the maternal side * Lack of awareness about healthy living and healthy child rearing practices
Keywords: AEGIS, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, HIV Seropositivity, Mothers, Child Rearing, Family, Child Care, Family Health, Caregivers, Health Services Needs and Demand, Spouses, Child of Impaired Parents, Child, Humans, Female, Male, economics
