Ivy, a 39-year-old Caucasian woman who recently returned from Africa is 3 ½ months pregnant. She also has an 8-year-old son. She was diagnosed with HIV in February 2018. Ivy has no income, is living with friends, and has debt from when she left the United States. Ivy says she practiced safe sex and tested regularly; however, she had one incident where the condom broke. Ivy’s CD4+ is 1130 and she has an undetectable viral load. She feels there is no need for her to take medicine because her doctor cannot tell her if there will be any long-lasting side effects to her unborn child. Ultimately, Ivy decides not to take meds during her pregnancy or AZT at the time of delivery. Ivy’s baby tested negative at birth. However, Ivy hasn’t contacted you (her peer advocate) for seven months, so you don’t know how or where Ivy is.
• What steps can you (the peer advocate) take to find Ivy? Why?
• What can you tell Ivy about HIV medications and pregnancy?
• What kinds of concerns may come up for you as the peer advocate? How can you deal with them?
