The Ntaseka Clinic currently serves approximately 150 young women, with an average age of just 24, who are living with HIV and receiving antiretroviral (ARV) therapy to manage their condition. As these women move forward with their lives, some will become pregnant, creating an urgent and critical need for safe, medically supervised childbirth. Without proper maternity services, the risk of mother-to-child transmission of HIV remains unacceptably high.

At present, many HIV-positive women give birth at home due to limited access to medical facilities. Home deliveries significantly increase the likelihood of transmitting HIV to newborns and place both mother and child at greater risk of complications during pregnancy and childbirth. In a setting where emergency care is scarce, even preventable complications can become life-threatening.

The completion of the new maternity ward at the Ntaseka Clinic marks a vital step toward addressing this challenge. With this facility in place, HIV-positive women will be able to deliver their babies in a clean, safe, and professionally staffed environment. Skilled healthcare providers will offer prenatal, delivery, and postnatal care, along with counseling on proven methods to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Mothers will also receive education on infant care, nutrition, and long-term health management for themselves and their children. While the maternity ward structure is now complete, the clinic urgently needs essential medical equipment and additional trained staff to fully operationalize maternity and inpatient services. These resources are critical to ensuring safe deliveries, managing complications, and providing comprehensive care for mothers and newborns.

In a country as economically challenged as Burundi, the transmission of HIV from mother to child is a profound tragedy—one that carries lifelong physical, emotional, and economic consequences. Preventing a child from acquiring HIV at birth not only transforms that child’s future but also eases the strain on an already overburdened healthcare system, where HIV treatment consumes a significant share of limited resources. Every HIV-free birth represents hope: for the child, for the family, and for the wider community. By equipping the Ntaseka Clinic’s maternity ward with the necessary staff and medical supplies, we can protect mothers, save newborns from preventable infection, and strengthen the long-term health of the population.

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