Feature Story

A MAMA+ client playing with her child

A social worker for Doctor’s of the World-USA’s (DOW) MAMA+ project first encountered Marina when she arrived at a maternity hospital, bruised, battered, and in labor.  Moments before she gave birth to a baby boy, she was given the news that she was HIV-positive. 

Marina’s story is sadly common.  Born and raised in Ukraine, Marina arrived in St. Petersburg with her Azerbaijani boyfriend.  They found a squalid one-room apartment in a building recently damaged by fire that lacked running water and heat.  Marina’s boyfriend forced her into commercial sex work.  She endured frequent beatings until the day before her baby’s birth, when her boyfriend hit her hard in the abdomen. 

As the social worker spoke with Marina, she appeared very withdrawn and offered few details about her brutal life.  She admitted that she was precariously unregistered and uninsured, but said she had employment as a temporary kitchen cleaner and a boyfriend waiting for her at home.  She insisted on keeping her baby.  It was only over a series of visits by MAMA+ health workers that Marina finally opened up, letting the staff accompany her to her apartment and view the devastating details of her domestic and working life. 

The MAMA+ doctor and staff bought Marina baby formula and supplies and taught her how to care for her son.  They made sure that she ate and that no one stole her food, and provided the medical and psychological support she desperately needed.  With Marina’s consent, MAMA+ staff made arrangements for her and the baby to return to the small village in Ukraine where her parents reside, and accompanied her on the long trip back.  Today, Marina continues to receive care from DOW’s local MAMA+ partners in Ukraine.  

In Russia, the rate of HIV-positive mothers is growing at an alarming pace.  The Federal AIDS Center in Moscow says nearly 10,000 HIV+ mothers have given birth since 1997 – the majority since 2002 – although many believe this number is a gross underestimation.   Drugs, sex work, poverty, and lack of education all contribute to what Human Rights Watch reports is a 20% abandonment rate of babies by HIV-positive mothers.  In Ukraine, the crisis of HIV-positive mothers is equally shocking and devastating. 

DOW’s MAMA+ project in Russia and Ukraine identifies HIV-positive mothers at risk of abandoning their babies and provides the women and their families with an established network of support including comprehensive social, medical, and psychological services.  Through its work, DOW is easing the burden of those most in need and preserving families in the face of crisis.