Content note: this episode discusses domestic abuse and suicidal thoughts.
In 2016, Emma McAnally was diagnosed with HIV in a Scottish sexual health clinic while in an abusive relationship. This episode follows how that diagnosis led her to challenge outdated NHS maternity guidance and become an HIV educator in Scotland today.
Summary
Emma McAnally was diagnosed with HIV in 2016, in a Scottish sexual health clinic, while in an abusive relationship. Isolated and convinced she was the only person in Scotland living with the virus, she reached her lowest point before falling pregnant gave her a reason to leave.
Motherhood brought fresh battles: she was denied a water birth because of her status, discouraged from breastfeeding, and, by 2023, discovered that Scotland's maternity guidelines for women living with HIV hadn't been updated since the early 1990s. Her research helped change them.
Emma later met her partner, Paul, through a wild swimming group, and found in their mixed-status relationship the acceptance she'd feared she'd never get.
Now a mental health nurse turned Senior Learning and Engagement Officer at Waverley Care, she delivers HIV-awareness training to health and social care staff, the same profession that once told her, wrongly, that HIV could be caught by sharing a toothbrush.
The conversation closes with a moment of remembrance for the teenage HIV educator Krista Blake.
Key Moments
- [00:01:43] Diagnosed with HIV in 2016, inside an abusive relationship
- [00:05:05] Googling the symptoms in the clinic waiting room, and the moment the penny dropped
- [00:12:22] Reaching a lowest point, and finding purpose in pregnancy
- [00:13:18] Denied a water birth because of her HIV status
- [00:17:51] Fighting outdated guidance to win delayed cord clamping for women living with HIV
- [00:24:07] Meeting her partner, Paul, through a wild swimming group
- [00:30:50] Told, wrongly, by a nursing lecturer that HIV could be caught by sharing a toothbrush
- [00:37:02] A moment of remembrance for teenage HIV educator Krista Blake
- [00:44:14] A postcard to her newly diagnosed self: "HIV can be your superpower"
About Emma McAnally
Emma McAnally is a mental health nurse and HIV advocate from Scotland, diagnosed with HIV in 2016. She successfully campaigned to update outdated NHS guidelines on childbirth for women living with HIV, and now works as Senior Learning and Engagement Officer at Waverley Care, delivering HIV-awareness training to health and social care staff. She is a mother of two and lives with her partner, Paul.
Resources & Further Reading
If you've been affected by anything discussed in this episode, support is available through the Terrence Higgins Trust.
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