When Joyce migrated from West Africa to the UK in 2015, she was diagnosed with HIV during the health screening process for asylum seekers. She was referred to a local HIV charity when her test came back positive.

Joyce was very scared when she learned her status, based on things she had heard about HIV previously. However, her medical teamed eased some of her concerns, and told her she would be fine so long as she took her HIV medication.

During her first pregnancy, the national guidelines advised against breastfeeding. Joyce has chosen to formula feed all her children, even though the guidelines have changed since then and allow breastfeeding as an option under certain conditions. She thinks the new guidelines are good but chose to avoid all risk of transmission by formula feeding. She still believes the risk of HIV transmission via breastmilk must be higher than what is claimed.

Only a couple of peopl know her HIV status. One of Joyce’s friends ended a friendship when she learned about another person’s HIV status, and so Joyce is scared to share hers, because of this kind of HIV stigma. Joyce told fellow church members that she had difficulty breastfeeding which is why she did not do it. Joyce’s partner is supportive of her infant feeding decision and is aware of her HIV status (although he himself is negative). When she originally told him, he left at first but came back after two months.

Joyce received all of her infant feeding information through her medical team. She trusted them and did not feel the need to seek information elsewhere. Joyce described formula feeding as fin for all her children. She received free formula milk from a local charity for each child, up until they turned one-year-old. This eased her financial worries; she thinks she would have considered breastfeeding without the financial support. Financial and peer support at the HIV charity helped Joyce when she was down mentall as it takes off some pressur. Generally, she has also found her interactions with medical staff quite good.