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 there, I’m a mother to a 4 months old baby, I am living with HIV . I’m exclusively breastfeeding the baby , she’s on VPN and I’m on treatment aswell and have suppressed viral load. My question is, is it still necessary for me to continue giving the baby NVP as she is 4months now? Secondly how long can I continue to breastfeed the baby as I wanted to breastfeeding till she atleast 1,5yr old.
Hi Mihlali, congratulations on having a baby. Yes. As both you and baby are on treatment the risk of transmission is already greatly reduced. Finding out your status late is not uncommon. Many women will find out their status even later than yourself and still go on to have healthy HIV negative baby. Finding out later might mean that baby has a longer time on treatment but this will be determined by how your body responded to treatment. More about this can be found here: https://i-base.info/qa/factsheets/infant-meds-when-the-mother-is-living-with-hiv
Hi I just gave birth I started taking my arvs at 31 weeks pregnant and my baby is given naviparine can she still be negative when I started that late taking my medication
Hi Cicely, congratulations on having a baby. Are you on medication? As you have a suppressed viral load the risk of HIV transmission is very low and it is recommended to breast feed. Did baby have their own medication after birth? This will further reduce the risk of transmission.
Hai,my viral load is on 621 and am breastfeeding a 3months old baby can I infect my baby
Hi Cynthia, congratulations on having a baby. Do yo know what your viral load is? and how long have you been on treatment?
How old is baby? If you are on treatment and have a suppressed viral load, mixed feeding will still only have a very low risk of transmission. It is great that baby has already tested negative once. It is most likely that baby will now remain negative. Does baby have their own HIV medication?
Hi am sesi I have a cd4 count of 250 and I have breastfeed my baby few days then I give my baby formula the first results are negative am worried about the next one,what to expect
Hi Lindiwe, congratulations on having a baby. Has your baby had any recent testing? and you are on treatment? While mixed feeding can have some increased risk, if you are on treatment this makes it very small and still much more likely that baby will be HIV negative.
I feel sorry for my child I did not follow the instructions because I had to go back early at work I gave him formula and breastfeeding at night while he was 3months now he is 5 months old
Hi, congratulations on having a baby. Please see this sheet that will help answer this question: https://i-base.info/qa/factsheets/infant-meds-when-the-mother-is-living-with-hiv
How long baby is on nevirapine will depend on your own treatment and viral load. E.g., if you are adherent with a viral load below 200 the risk to baby is small. In this case it is usually recommended that baby stop nevirapine after 6 weeks.