Question
Can I mix feed with an suppressed viral load?
3 October 2023. Related: All topics, Children, HIV transmission.
Hi ,my baby is 10 weeks now he is on formula because I don’t have enough breast milk and I didn’t know my viral load the time that I gave birth to him. My question now is can I mixed feed him now that my viral load is below 20.
Answer
Hi, how are you doing?
Congratulations on having a baby.
It is great that you now have a suppressed viral load. Even in cases when mum is suppressed/undetectable it is still recommended that baby only be fed with either breast or formula milk instead of mixing.
This is because mixing between feeds can irritate baby’s stomach and this can increase the risk of transmission. Is baby on their own treatment?
If it is not possible to use only one type of feed, the increased risk is only very small because of how well your treatment is working. It is recommended to only feed using one method until baby is 6 months.
Josh.
Hi Lesago, we always recommend talking to you health team because they know about your situation in detail. For example, I don’t know whether low viral load means undetectable or is a higher level that is still low but might change the risks.
Hi..my baby is having her own medication and I have low viral load can I mix feed because am having low breast mill