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 AND 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 Palesa, congratulations on your baby. Why do you want to be giving your baby these medications? He is still very young and gripe water would not be recommended until he is at least 1 month old. This is explained in a previous question: https://i-base.info/qa/17697
How are you feeding your baby? While baby is so young and if they are healthy all they need is milk and Nevirapine. There is no need to be giving baby any extra medication. Please see this question: https://i-base.info/qa/17697
Hi, I’m HIV positive I’ve been on treatment for 12 years now and my baby is only 2weeks and is exposed hiv negative and he’s on nevirapine. So I want to know if is it safe to give him medicine like gripe water, muthi wenyonyi etc…?
Hi Tebaga, have you spoken to your doctor/pharmacist about this? Due to how co-trimoxazole can be prescribed there are too many unknowns to suggest the correct dose. The dose will depend on the reason it has been prescribed.
What is a dosage for co-trimoxazole
Hi Dolly, do you know that HIV status of this infant? If they have tested positive they might display symptoms of HIV. Symptoms of HIV are not very specific and can indicate a number of illnesses, not only HIV. If you have concerned it is important to take this infant to see a doctor.
Hi I want to ask, does the HIV exposed infant have symptoms of HIV?
Hi Ntombi, is there a reason your sister is not yet on ARVs? This will be the best option for reducing risk of transmission to her baby. While she is not, she is still relatively safe to breastfeed as long as baby stays on Nevirapine. In this situation it is possible for baby’s course of Nevirapine to be extended to a longer time while mum is not on medication.
Hi,I am asking for my young sister,who is scared to talk to people.is it safe for her to breastfeed her baby while she is not yet on arvs but the baby is on nevirapine
Hi Mmabatho, congratulations on having a baby. Yes you should still be giving your baby Nevirapine. Nevirapine is safe for baby to take and will prevent HIV transmission. For how long will depend on how well your medication and your viral load. Most commonly a course of Nevirapine is for 6 weeks.
I’m hiv positive I’ve been on treatment for 3months, I recently gave birth via c section my baby was tested for hiv the day before we were discharged the results came back negative, should I give my baby the nvp syrup