An innovative African mentoring program that recruits and trains mothers living with HIV to serve as peer mentors and educators to HIV-positive pregnant women and new mothers has developed a unique and award-winning community-based model that is cost effective, easily replicable, scalable, and adaptable to any culture.

mothers2mothers (known as m2m), which now operates in South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zambia, Rwanda, Malawi, and Mozambique, has been chosen as one of three winners of the Africa Regional Social Entrepreneurs of 2009 by the Schwab Foundation. The award was presented to founder and medical director Dr. Mitch Besser, and co-founder and executive director Gene Falk, during the World Economic Forum on Africa meeting in Cape Town, South Africa, on June 10, 2009.

It is the second major award in two years for m2m, which has grown from a single support group created in Cape Town in 2001 by Dr. Besser to an organization that now works in 517 sites in seven African nations. In 2008, m2m was one of 11 organizations worldwide honoured with the prestigious Skoll Foundation Award for Social Entrepreneurship.

Dr. Besser, a gynecologist working with at-risk pregnant women in both California and South Africa, served as a consultant for the clinical roll-out of Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT), which can cut transmission risk nearly in half by giving a single dose of medication to a mother during labour and a dose to her infant shortly after birth.

While working at Cape Town’s Groote Schuur Hospital, Dr. Besser realized that having medical treatment available was not enough – women faced social, emotional and psychological barriers that prevented them seeking treatment. He enlisted other new mothers living openly with HIV/AIDS as Mentor Mothers who began to connect with and educate their pregnant peers. The result of these efforts is m2m today.

While mother to child HIV transmission has essentially been eradicated in the developed world, sub-Saharan Africa has the highest statistics of mothers and babies infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. Each year, says m2m, more babies are born with HIV in one busy clinic in Africa than in the United States, Canada and England combined. Of the 1% of pregnant women worldwide who are HIV-positive, 95% live in Sub-Saharan Africa and without care, about 24% will transmit the virus to their newborns. Each year, about 3 million of these children will die from HIV/AIDS-related illnesses.

m2m complements the available medical treatment by offering an effective, sustainable model of care that provides education and support for pregnant women and new mothers living with HIV/AIDS.

Located in antenatal clinics, maternity wards, post-delivery clinics and hospitals that offer medical treatment to women living with HIV, m2m works alongside established PMTCT treatment programs to promote empowerment and companionship, assist women in combating stigma within their families and communities, support a mother’s adherence to medical treatment, and reduce the likelihood that her children will become AIDS orphans.

m2m recruits mothers living with HIV who have completed a pregnancy as peer mentors and educators to HIV-positive pregnant women and HIV-positive women who have recently given birth. Mentor Mothers are trained by m2m certified trainers using a rigorous training curriculum, and then employed and paid as integral, valuable and professional members of the health care team. They serve a 13 month term, allowing a new group of Mentor Mothers to be hired, trained and empowered each year.

A woman arriving for her first antenatal care (ANC) visit is paired with a Mentor Mother who assesses what she knows about HIV and its ramifications for her health, her child’s health, and her life, and all the factors that influence her living. If she wishes, her Mentor Mother will accompany her to her medical appointments and help her complete referral appointments. Mentor Mothers also lead group meetings and support groups with all women participating in the program. The Mentor Mother also acts as an advocate on the labor wards, ensuring that treatment is provided during the birth process to prevent transmission.

Mentor Mothers also provide community education and outreach in communities, townships and villages on topics related to reproductive health, especially HIV/AIDS. Where required, Site Coordinators and Mentor Mothers travel to clients’ homes and/or invite family members to a mothers2mothers location in order to provide education and support to women who are disclosing their HIV status. In addition, m2m adapts to rural health care settings where women cannot travel to the nearest health care facility for ANC visits and/or delivery, playing an integral role in promoting anti-retroviral (ARV) therapy adherence.

At present, m2m operates in 517 sites in seven African countries - South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zambia, Rwanda, Malawi, and Mozambique.

For more information about m2m, visit their website or contact:

mothers2mothers

78 Darling Street, Cape Town 8001, South Africa

Linda Codron, Communications Manager. Email.

Tel:: +27 (0) 21 466 9184 or +27 21(0) 71 609 0714

Fax: +27 (0) 21 462 4868

Cell: +27 (0) 84 652 7349

This story was prepared from information on the mothers2mothers website, a story about the Skoll Awards 2008 and African Social Entrepreneurs of 2009 Announced, June 11, 2009, South Africa – The Good News. The pictures come from the m2m site and are used with permission. Photo details: (centre, left) mentors Queen Mda, Buyiswa Vali, Mwabisa Thelelo and Zimasa Beshenga are shown at the Honour a Woman luncheon hosted by Pick n' Pay/Wheat Trust May 22, 2008; (bottom, right) Her Excellency the Rt. Hon. Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada (left), visited m2m in December 2006 (photo by MCpl Issa Paré, Rideau Hall).