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Pregnancy
and HIV: There are several possible decisions a woman can make to try to reduce the chances of passing HIV to her baby. Some of these decisions can have a big effect on reducing the chances that an infant born to a woman infected with HIV will also be infected. One of the most important decisions a pregnant woman with HIV will make is a decision on whether to take medicine for her infection during pregnancy. There are reasons both in favor and against taking drugs for HIV treatment and/or prevention of HIV transmission from mother to child during pregnancy. It is important for a woman trying to make such a decision to talk to her health care provider about possible treatment options and the benefits and risks of each. After learning about options, she will need to make a decision with which she feels comfortable. At this time, only one drug, AZT (also called Zidovudine , ZDV) has been proven to help reduce transmission of HIV from the mother to her baby. Some women may already be receiving treatment for their HIV infection with any of a variety of drugs when they find out they are pregnant. It is important for these women to discuss with their health care provider the risks and benefits of continuing, changing, or stopping medications. TRANSMISSION OF HIV FROM MOTHER TO CHILD If
you are pregnant and are infected with HIV, you may
Without taking prevention measures, the chances are about one in four that HIV will pass from a mother to her baby before or during birth. This is only an average. No one can tell you for sure what your baby's chances are. If you have HIV and are pregnant, the most important thing you can do is to see your health care provider early and often during your pregnancy. There are several options available for reducing the transmission of HIV to your baby--talk with your health care provider about what is most appropriate. HIV PREVENTION The following is a current option for preventing mother to child transmission of HIV that you should discuss with your health care provider. AZT Prophylaxis (See AZT Therapy: http://www.hcfa.gov/hiv/subpg3a.htm ) AZT is a medicine used to treat HIV infection and to prevent transmission of HIV from a pregnant woman to her child. With AZT, the chance that your baby will get HIV is lowered from about 3 out of 12 (25 percent) to 1 out of 12 (8 percent). Newer studies are showing that the chance of transmitting HIV to your baby may be reduced to as low as 3 out of 100 (3 percent) if you follow the advice of your health care provider, and that shorter drug regimens which may use drugs other than AZT may be effective in reducing the chances of transmitting HIV from the mother to the newborn if the full AZT regimen could not be taken. The full AZT regimen is still the standard of care for preventing HIV transmission from mother to the newborn, and should be used when at all possible to provide the most protection against transmission. OTHER WAYS TO PROTECT YOUR BABY In addition to the treatment option mentioned above, there are other ways to protect your baby that you may want to discuss with your health care provider. These include:
This article was produced by the Health Care Financing Administration and Department of Health and Human Services. |
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