Question
Can I breastfeed if diagnosed in pregnancy? I am in South Africa…
27 January 2022. Related: All topics, CD4 and viral load, Children, HIV transmission, Newly diagnosed, Pregnancy, South Africa.
Can I breastfeed while HIV positive?
I only found out i’m HIV positive while i’m 28 weeks pregnant. I started taking treatment immediately. Is my baby high risk?
How long it takes for HIV to be low and undetectable? Im based in South Africa.
Thank you.
Answer
Hi, how are you doing?
Congratulations on your pregnancy. It is good your were diagnosed and started HIV treatment (called ART). So long as your viral load becomes undetectable, you will be able to breastfeed. breastfeed. This is recommended in WHO guidelines for people in South Africa,
Starting ART immediately is great and is already helping to prevent transmission. Many women find out about their status late in their pregnancy and give birth to HIV negative children.
Your baby will also be on HIV medication for a short while when your breastfeeding to further reduce the risk.
ART works very quickly – from the first pill you take. Depending on your current CD4 count and viral load it is possible to be undetectable (VL less than 200) in a month. Though this can take up to 3 months. The lower your viral load, the more your baby will be protected.
Increasing your CD4 count can take time but it will happen while on medication. This time is your immune system recovering from the unmanaged HIV infection. This is a link to a guide about starting HIV medication (ART).
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