Question
Will my baby have HIV?
15 December 2016. Related: All topics, Children, Newly diagnosed, Pregnancy.
I’m HIV positive and I started taking meds on the second month of my pregnancy. I gave birth not knowing my viral load and my baby is now 6 days old and is taking nevirapine. What are the chances of him getting infected? I am also breast-feeding.
Answer
Thanks for getting in touch, and congratulations on the birth of your baby.
The chances of transmitting HIV to babies is dramatically reduced if a woman’s viral load is undetectable at delivery. In most cases this happens within 1-3 months of starting meds. Sometimes it might take longer if viral load was very high when starting.
Because you started treatment early in your pregnancy, it is very likely that your viral load was undetectable. However, without knowing your results, I cannot be sure of this.
When you gave birth did you have a vaginal delivery? If you did, was this supported by your doctor? If it was, then this may be an indication that your VL was undetectable.
You being on treatment is important as this will also protect the baby while you are breastfeeding.
It is also good that your baby is taking meds as this will give extra protection.
This means there is a really good chance your baby will not have HIV.
The meds for the baby will help this and then testing is the only way to finally find out. Unfortunately, it takes a while for the testing to show this.
For more on infants and testing, please see the following:
https://i-base.info/guides/pregnancy/hiv-negative
Hi Sne.
Your granny giving your child baby food won’t influence on your childs possible status. However, babies who are 6 weeks old shouldn’t be given baby food as they are too young.
Hi I have a 6week old baby my granny didn’t know that im hiv positive she gave my child some baby food im breastfeeding does this mean my child has contracted the virus im so scared I feel so helpless plz help I ended up telling her nerver to do it again and that im hiv positive but im just scared.
Hi Diana,
At the moment its not possible to say what your babies status will be. However, its good to hear that you’re on medication. This will reduce the risk of transmission to your baby. There’s more about pregnancy and HIV here: http://i-base.info/guides/pregnancy
Hi I just started my Avonza medication and am due by next week am really worried will my baby contract the disease?
Hi Eulie,
I’m sorry to hear about your recent diagnosis. But what does the doctor say about breastfeeding your daughter?
Have you started HIV treatment (ART) yet? ART can help reduce the risk of HIV to your daughter if you’re breastfeeding. But please talk to the doctor about formula feeding. Do you have access to formula?
Please let us know how you get on.
I just found out that im hiv positive.And I have been breast feeding my 9month old daughter ,is it possible that she is infected ?
Hi Andiswa,
Oral thrush is common in babies, your doctor will be able to give your son something for the thrush. Your son having thrush doesn’t mean that he’s positive.
Good day
My on is 5 months old and he is going for a hiv test when he is 6 month but i have noticed that he has oral thrush, could this be a sign that he is HIV or am aksing since i can’t wait because the test is next month
Hi Zama,
It’s great that your viral load is undetectable. It sounds like you’re doing the right things to help protect your baby from HIV.
Mix feeding with breastmilk and formula is not recommended because it can increase the risk to your baby.
What does the clinic say about this? Can you tell them about your plan to switch exclusively to formula? Talking to the doctor about it first is a good idea.
Hi am hiv positive but and viral load is undectable and i was thinking on breastfeeding my baby for 2months becoz i need to go back to work on the third month will my bbe be infected if i formula fed him\her on the third mnth and stop breastfeeding for good