Question
Can I go back to breastfeeding?
10 January 2024. Related: All topics, Children, HIV transmission.
My baby is 2 weeks now, we’ve been using nevirapine syrup while breastfeeding but I lacked enough milk so I switched to formula for a day now can I still switch her back to breast milk using a pump now that I feel my breasts full?
Answer
Hi how are you doing?
Congratulations on having a baby. It is great that baby is on nevirapine. Are you on treatment yourself? and do you know your viral load?
If you are able to switch only once and then continue exclusively breastfeeding it would be safe to do this. Risk increases when switching often between formula and breastmilk. This causes irritation to baby’s tummy (before the age of 6 months) which is the cause of increased transmission risk.
Being able to pump is a great idea to help avoid using formula when you can’t breastfeed.
This one day of using formula is not going to have caused any problems.
Josh.