Early detection and treatment are the key to preventing newborn human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. The American Academy of Pediatrics and American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists therefore recommend that all pregnant women be screened for HIV infection. Although your health professional may not offer an HIV test as part of your routine prenatal care, it's a good idea to have one. If you have any risk factors for HIV infection, your health professional may want to give you a second test later in your pregnancy.
If you or your partner have ever had unprotected sex (or shared needles) with a person whose HIV status is unknown, there is a chance that you have the virus. If you do have HIV, your baby could also become infected. HIV infects about 1 of every 4, or 25%, of newborns born to untreated HIV-infected women. The virus is usually passed on during childbirth, although it sometimes is passed in utero.
Breast-feeding also transmits the virus from mother to baby.
Antiretroviral treatment during pregnancy and after the birth greatly reduces a baby's risk of HIV infection. Antiretroviral medications prevent the virus from multiplying. When the amount of HIV in the blood is minimized, the immune system has a chance to recover and grow stronger. In one large study of HIV-positive pregnancies, the rate of infant infection dropped from 25% to about 8% when mothers and babies were treated.
Current treatment recommendations include:
Antiretroviral treatment for the mother, during the second and third trimesters and during childbirth. Zidovudine (ZDV), sometimes in combination with other antiretrovirals, is the treatment of choice during pregnancy.
Planned cesarean delivery for women with a high level of HIV antibodies (viral load) and therefore a higher risk of infecting their babies. Only 2% of babies become infected after being delivered by cesarean (before labor begins) to HIV-positive mothers.
Antiretroviral treatment for the baby for 6 weeks after birth. ZDV is the treatment of choice.
No breast-feeding.
印度：数百万人携带HIV 鸣笛敲钟警惕艾滋
醋酸甲地孕酮与男性HIV感染者无菌性骨坏死有关
HIV & AIDS Overview
Protect the person with HIV from other infections
Home care for a person with HIV
Drug resistance and HIV
HIV Medications
HIV Myths
HIV Risk Factors
HIV Infection