Absolutely fine I can’t really fault it, if anything it helped, it helped the baby to grow a bit quickly [laughs] but yeah there hasn’t been any side effects or any negative really. And actually, her being born in lockdown it was really, because I wasn’t, I was thinking like oh what will I tell my friends if they constantly asking me why you are not breastfeeding again and blah, blah, ball, but lockdown helped because I spent the first three months at home anyway in isolation.

Even with the HIV my main issue was always the HIV, but even going in knowing that I had HIV they just treated me as any other lady, any other woman giving birth and even after, because with my son after I gave birth to him I was put in a private room so straight away I was like hmm but I think it was more to do with because I didn’t have my child immediately with me after birth, they didn’t want me to be around the other mums with babies. Because that would be quite uncomfortable really for me to watch someone else with their baby and mine is upstairs in the neonatal.

The only other thing I was uncomfortable with was the doctor coming to talk to me about my HIV and I think she was trying to say to look just to double check what medication I was on and things like have I got enough to keep me going for the next few weeks before my next appointment and she was talking to me about it but it was in a cubicle but the only thing that was blocking us was just a curtain, so everyone else could hear what was being said which was a bit uncomfortable because whilst I was there I was a opposite another lady who I knew she was where I work, knew from where I work, was a bit like “really, did you have to do that, really loudly in front of everyone?”

But I was, obviously coming from East Africa and having, because I volunteered for [International organisation] in East Africa when I was doing my Masters and I remembered seeing women with HIV and they were breastfeeding because that was considered a lot more safer than formula feeding in East Africa this is, but obviously because I think of water contamination and stuff like that the women were encouraged to breastfeed. But I know that was a possibility but because it wasn’t happening here I was like there’s a reason why it’s not happening is because of the risk that’s there so I just decided no, I’d best not risk anything at all really.

And how do you feel like do you have any thoughts on different guidelines depending on where you live in the world?

I guess, I don’t know it’s really difficult, obviously living in the UK is very different to living in East Africa and I guess the risks here and there are very different as well in terms of hygiene and things like that. But I don’t know I guess I would have to go with where I live.

I guess the worst experience was with my GP all the time because they don’t, they’re not aware, they’re not familiar with HIV so they’re quite happy just to send me back to my consultant, my HIV consultant. Even with things like, because I suffered a lot with thrush during pregnancy, they kept on sending me back to the HIV team, which I thought actually something that they could really look into it rather than me having to see the sexual health clinic which is, which comes under my HIV clinic as well. So I think there’s a, I don’t know there’s isn’t a lot of understanding in GP surgeries around HIV I mean you’re lucky to get somebody who has had some experience with patients with HIV so I guess that’s probably due to the, where I live? I don’t know. There isn’t that many cases of people living with HIV.