Pregnancy and AIDS

Any woman planning for pregnancy should undergo certain tests to ensure she is ready to conceive and is capable of carrying a healthy pregnancy. But if due to any reasons she comes to know that she has AIDS and is carrying at the same time, she should look forward to the ways she can overcome all the associated risks for her baby. The HIV transmission from mother to baby can happen anytime during pregnancy, labor and breastfeeding. There are several modern AIDS preventive medicines, available in the market that, have made pregnancy and AIDS go safely for complete term and even after that. The best part about these medicines is that they are absolutely safe and have no side effects on the health of baby.

During pregnancy, the health of the baby as well as the mother is important. For HIV positive expectant mothers, it is very vital to undergo certain tests and treatments like CD4 test and viral load test. These tests decide whether the mother needs treatment for the AIDS infection or not. The high CD4 count shows that the woman’s immune system is still strong and that she does not need any special treatments for herself. If the count is low she needs to start with antiretroviral (ARV) treatment as early as possible. Seek recommendations from your doctor regarding certain ARV combinations. So, pregnancy and AIDS are managed without much issues but with due care.

It is very obvious that in HIV positive cases, extra care, especially of the baby is needed. During and after birth, some precautionary measures should be kept in mind so that chances of the baby catching the disease are minimized. It is advisable that as soon as the waters break, the minimum possible time should be taken for the delivery. The usage of scalp electrodes that monitor heartbeats of the baby should be avoided. Also, blood samples from the baby inside the womb, should not be taken during the pregnancy period, till its birth. Hence, fruitful results can be achieved from such a pregnancy and AIDS cannot affect them.