Question
My baby is on nevirapine and I’m breastfeeding, is my baby positive?
19 August 2016. Related: All topics, Pregnancy.
Answer
Firstly, congratulations on having your baby.
It is normal for your baby to be given a short course (4 weeks) of HIV treatment (such as nevirapine) when born. This doesn’t mean your baby is HIV positive. This will be checked later through testing. A different type of testing is also used on babies as the normal antibody test used in adults will show the baby as positive.
Our guide on pregnancy has lots more information
https://i-base.info/guides/pregnancy
In the UK, the BHIVA (British HIV Association) guidelines recommend bottle feeding.
This is because in countries where mothers can have access to to formula milk AND clean water ANDÂ bottle sterilising equipment, the risk of transmitting HIV to the baby through bottle feeding is zero. There are different recommendations for other countries though and many women breastfeed. I am not sure about the recommendations in Zambia.
This means that you are doing the best that you can to protect your baby.
However, being positive and looking after a new born baby can be hard and many people need help. Do you have much support around you to help or are you touch with good care from your doctor?
Hi Larato,
Please can you explain your question a bit more?
Hi there i am hiv positive and my baby is 8 weeks old.at birth she was given nvp but after 6 weeks when we visited the clinic i was told to stop nvp,and i will continue again at 10 week.so i want to know that this won’t affect my baby’s health?
Hi Matlakala,
Babies until they are 6 months old don’t really need any liquids other than milk. Be this breast of formula. This noted, you giving your child water won’t have impact on the possibility of them being positive or not.
Feeding guidelines for babies vary depending on where people live. In the UK its recommended that babies have only formula. However in many other countries women are advice to breastfeed. This is if their HIV is under control.
Im hiv mother to 1week baby for the past two days i give her water its inposible that she is infected i brestfeed her and think to stop and formula feed her
Hi Sphiwe,
Thank you for telling us your story.
It’s great that your little one sounds like he’s doing so well! And yes, talking to your doctor and nurse really helps a lot.
My advice to all positive mothers out there is that if you do exactly what your doc or nurse tells you to do ur lil one will be fine.am hiv positive i exclusively breast feed my lil one for a year n my lil one has tested negative in all his tests bcz i always listnd to what i was told and am taking my meds accordingly my viral load s undetectable.At 1st i tot it was impossible to hv a hiv neg baby while ur positive but trust me its possible.
Hi Mariah,
Many congratulations on news of your new baby.
It’s great that you’ve talked to the clinic and made your own decision about the C-section. Treatment for your baby after birth should be organised in advance too.
It’s very good that your viral load is undetectable. That is the best way to look after your health and your baby’s health.
But please can you ask the clinic about the nevirapine treatment? You can ask what the dose will be, and for how long your baby might need it.
Hi there,
I am hiv positive with an undetactable viralload.going for elextive c sec. In a weeks time. am advised nevrapine for my baby for 6 weeks. My question is how soon(time frame) after birth should the first dose of nvp should be given? Thanks.
Hi Zusiphe,
Is it possible for you to talk to the doctor about weaning your baby onto soft food? Some babies are ready to have some soft food at 4 months. But it would be good to make sure the doctor knows about how it’s going.
my baby is 4months she’s on nvp and am breast feeding her..i give her cerelic,purity and nestum since the breast milk doesn’t satisfy her.is that going to affect her