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 Sima, the information we give at i-Base is that for roughly the first six months, a new baby only needs milk. Nothing else is needed or recommended.
Hi my baby is one month old and on nevirapine can I give her something for colic
Hello Sam and thanks for getting in touch.
Congratulations for your baby, you must be very happy.
I can’t directly answer the question as every country has different guidelines and advice.
Your doctor and midwife can give you more information.
Here are some information for breastfeeding we use in the UK:
https://i-base.info/qa/25786
Can I continue to breastfeed after the NVP is finished
Hi Nana, thanks. congratulations on your new baby. Hiccups are normal but gripe water or even water isn’t likely to help and your baby only needs milk for about the fist six months. You won’t have done any harm but please speak to your doctor or nurse to check this. Rubbing or gently tapping your babies back can sometimes help them relax of help free any burbs that might cause the hiccups.
Hello Nana and thanks for getting in touch.
Congratulations on the new baby, you must be very excited.
Apologies, I can’t advise you on baby medication.
It’s best to discuss this with your doctor or nurse who have more knowledge
Until you speak to them please only give the baby the medication they have advised you
Hi
My baby is 10 days and on nvp, I gave her gripe water and colic drops is she in danger? My viral load is under 20, is it safe to give her 1,5 ml water when she gets hiccups or what can i give her for hiccups?
Hello Xolie and thanks for getting in touch.
Congratulations on the baby. You must be very happy.
Please do not worry. 55 is a very low viral load which is considered undetectable.
We have better machines and tests today that’s why we can measure so low viral loads.
Please don’t worry. Everything is ok and your baby is safe.
Good day,please assist. In November my viral load was undetectable and in December I gave birth and the new test was not done and my baby PCR after birth was negative.Recently in February did viral load checks and suddenly change to detectable with 55 copies ml and quickly visited the child’s doctor today and we did PCR checks awaiting for results.Im worried and scared even though I was on treatment daily, breastfeeding and my baby is taking nevarapine even post delivery as the doctor said as long as im breastfeeding,I must give to the baby…What are the chances of her to be infected or not?
Hello Polly and thanks for getting in touch.
Congratulations on the new baby! You must be very excited!
Please don’t worry. You have and are doing everything right.
The most important thing is for you to be undetectable (or LDL as your nurse told you).
And you have achieved that – well done!!!
The guidelines about breastfeeding have changed and now in most cases and when the mother is undetectable they only give babies medication for the first 6 weeks.
Please discuss with your doctor about continuing breastfeeding as the guidelines are different from country to country.
In the UK, where I am based, we don’t recommend breastfeeding for more than 6 months.
Please see here for some more information:
https://i-base.info/qa/25786