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Starting HIV treatment late in
pregnancy and having a high viral load increase the risk that a breastfeeding
mother will pass on HIV to her baby, new research shows.
With the right treatment and care,
the risk of mother-to-baby transmission of HIV is under 1%.
The risk of transmission can be
reduced by the use of HIV treatment during pregnancy, delivery and after the
birth; having an appropriately managed birth; and – when practicable – not breastfeeding.
In the UK, where formula milk is available, it is recommended that women with
HIV do not breastfeed at all, to minimise the risk of HIV being passed on.
Use of formula milk is not an option
in many resource-poor countries. Therefore, doctors have been looking at the
use of antiretroviral treatment during breastfeeding as a way of further
reducing the risk of mother-to-child transmission.
The latest research showed that only
a third of women who started HIV treatment less than two weeks before they gave
birth had an undetectable viral load at the time of delivery. This compared to
81% of women who started treatment more than six weeks before delivery.
This finding was significant because
the research also showed that viral load level at the time of delivery and up
to six months afterwards was associated with the level of risk of
mother-to-child transmission.
The study underlines the importance
of early diagnosis and appropriate HIV treatment during pregnancy.
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
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