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 I’m hv positive it’s been 8year taking my treatment my cd4 count is good I have an 6week old baby at the clinic they stopped the treatment of nevirapien and I’m breastfeeding the baby is it possible for the baby to have hiv
Hi Buhle, congratulations on having a baby. It is great that you are on treatment and baby also has theirs. A c-section will also reduce the risk of transmission further. You are already doing everything right to prevent risk of transmission.
Are you able to remove the white patches on baby’s tongue? Breastmilk can build up and look like thrush but often is just built up milk. If it is not you can speak with your doctor/phamarcist about treatment.
You have done everything right to prevent transmission. In these cases it is more than 99% likely that baby will be HIV negative. You do not need to worry.
Hi I’m Hiv positive in arv treatment and I give birth at c section my child is 10 weeks old im breastfeeding him and lhis still on nevirapien and adco-zidovudine I’m afraid that maybe I’ll diagnose him because now he have mouth thrush
Hi Trisha, congratulations on having a baby. Is there a reason that you held your ARVs for 4 days? ARVs are safe during pregnancy and breastfeeding and you are not required to stop them for surgeries.
Yes it is advisable to continue breastfeeding. As you are on treatment, as is baby you are already doing everything to prevent transmission. As baby was born via a c-section this will reduce the risk further.
After being born, it is recommended to exclusively breastfeed for the first 6 months of life. NVP can help protect from transmission for the first few weeks.
More information about baby’s treatment can be found here: https://i-base.info/qa/factsheets/infant-meds-when-the-mother-is-living-with-hiv
Being on treatment for 5 months of pregnancy is a significant amount of time. In that time your viral load can become detectable and reduce the risk of transmission to as low as possible. HIV positive women all over the world give birth to healthy HIV negative babies. You are doing everything to prevent transmission to baby. You can continue to breastfeed.
Hi my baby is 5weeks I’ve been consistent in taking my Avr drugs from 5months of my pregnancy and my baby have been on NVP drugs right from birth. I put to bed through caesarian section that i put a hold to my AVR drugs for 4days before continuing. I’m also breastfeeding him but I’m afraid if he’s +ve. I’ve not check my viral load to know if it is low. Is it advisable to continue breastfeeding? Pls help a confused mother.
Hi Sebeh, congratulations on having a baby. Did your doctor tell you how long to give baby nevirapine for?
Are you on treatment yourself? and do you know your viral load?
In most cases nevirapine is only recommended for the first 4-6 weeks of life. After this time there is no further benefit to continuing treatment unless transmission is high risk e.g., mum having a high viral load/not being on treatment.
Treatment for baby is explained here: https://i-base.info/qa/factsheets/infant-meds-when-the-mother-is-living-with-hiv
Are you able to speak with your pharmacist? If the doctor recommends continuing with treatment you will need a new prescription as this has been listed to be discarded after 4 weeks.
Hi I’m Hiv positive and my baby is a month old and on nevirapine. The bottle is written “discard after 4 weeks” does that mean I should stop giving her now?
Hi Charity, congratulations on having a baby. How are you feeding baby? and are you on treatment yourself?
As you had a c-section, the risk to baby is lower (transmission risk is higher via vaginal birth). It is great that baby is also on nevirapine. This will reduce risk even more and for how long they are on treatment is explained here: https://i-base.info/qa/factsheets/infant-meds-when-the-mother-is-living-with-hiv
Many HIV positive women give birth to healthy HIV negative babies all over the world. When taking treatment well, which you and baby are, the risk to baby is less than 1%. In these cases more than 99 women out of 100 will have a healthy HIV negative baby.
Hi am HIV positive and I gave birth through c section and my new born came out with blood inside her mouth.but am busy giving her nevirapine doses everyday.can the chances of her being infected be there because am stressed
Hi Altar, yes it is okay to switch to another type of formula. This is not considered mix feeding.
Mixed feeding is switching between breast milk and formula milk. There is no risk by switching between different types of formula.