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 Tsidi, thanks for your comment – and congratulations on your new baby. The zidovudine is being used to protect your baby after she is born. The negative test is still a good result, but the zidovudine as a safety treatment in case there are very small ammounts of HIV around. Great news about your own treatment including viral load and CD4 count.
Hei, i was diagnosed with hiv october 2020 with 4months pregnant i started treatment right away gave birth natural earl this month of April 2021 my viral load is low<20 and cd4 count 339. So after delivery my baby have been given Zidovudine is she hiv? What is going to happen to her i am using formula she is 7days today
Hi Tlhogi, please ask your doctor or clinic this question. This is because i-Base is based in the UK and recommendations are different in other countries. It also is sometimes related to your own health. For example, whther your viral load was undetectable when you gave birth.
Hi
Im hiv+ and my son tested negative at birth and i never breastfed him he drinks formula since birth and we both on medication…i would like to know for how long is he going to be on Nevirapine ?
Hi Sandisile,
As you may be aware mixed feeding isn’t recommended, to know if your baby is OK or not they’ll need to test. With babies it’s important to chose one feeding method. With formula there’s no risk.
Hi am hiv mom n my baby is on nevirapine coz I sad at hospital am going to breast feed then wen I arrive at home my mom gave her formula coz am was supposed to go back to school ND I mixed feed her for 2 days is it possible to be hiv.
Hi Palesa.
If you’re asking if it’s OK to change to formula, the answer is yes. With formula there’s no risk.
I found out that I’m HIV positive in September started taking treatment right away,my viral load is low,after giving birth my son was tested an the results came back negative. I am breastfeeding so I wanna change to formula my son is 4 weeks old
Hi Boity,
Yes you can change to formula, the important thing is that you don’t give your daughter both breastmilk and formula.
Hi I am hiv positive tested when I was 11weeks pregnant and started Arvs with treatment immediately, my daughter is now almost 4 weeks old she got nevirapine at birth and I am still continuing giving her until I go for her 6 Weeks check up and she is on breast milk. I don’t know my viral load and her results from birth I was just told that I will get her results when we go for 6 weeks check up. Is it OK if I start giving her formula after our 6 weeks check up.