How to Safely Have a Baby If You Are HIV Positive

HIV positive women can and do have children. Just because you are HIV positive does not mean you can not be a mother. There are precautions that must be taken first before and after having a baby.

Conception: If you are HIV positive you can pass the virus on to your partner. To prevent this you will need to be artificially inseminated. If you can not afford to have this done by a doctor you can always insert it yourself at home with a turkey baster. That way there is no contact with your partner to risk their health.

Pregnancy:You can pass the HIV virus on to your baby during pregnancy. Anti-HIV treatment can greatly reduce the risk of you passing this on to your unborn child. There are two different ways these drugs can act. First, they reduce your viral load, so that your unborn child is exposed to less of the virus while in the womb. Second, the drugs may cross the placenta and enter the baby's body, where they can prevent the virus from ever taking hold. Two drugs are known to be effective in prevent the mother from passing on HIV to the baby. Nucleoside analogue( NRTI) AZT, and the non-nucleoside (NNRTI) nevirapine.

Delivery: If you have a planned cesarean the risk to your baby is reduced. This is planned during your 38th week but will be done sooner if your labor begins. This is recommend if you have a detectable viral load or if the only anti-HIV drug you took during pregnancy was AZT. A consistently undetectable viral load(below 50 copies/ml) can mean a safe vaginal delivery. If your water breaks more than four hours before delivery then you can have an increased risk of passing the virus on to your baby. The use of forceps can also increase this risk.

Breastfeeding: This method of feeding your baby is not recommended.The risk of infection can be as high as one in eight. Although breastfeeding is argued the best for the baby, in the case where you are HIV positive it is not the best. Formula feed your baby from the start. Any amount of breast milk will put your baby at risk.