Question
I am HIV positive and pregnant, what are the risks?
7 January 2018. Related: All topics, Pregnancy.
I am 32, married and have two children. I am HIV positive and so is my husband. I recently discovered I am pregnant but my husband is furious with me, and has advised me to go for an abortion. I am now debating on what to do as I do not want to go through a pregnancy without the support of my husband. What are the risks in pregnancy when HIV positive?
Answer
Thank you for your question.
Congratulations on the pregnancy and I am sorry if this is causing problems with your husband.
Is he upset because he is worried about the child becoming positive? Or because he is worried about your health? Or something else?
Also, are you already taking HIV treatment (ART)? this is because ART is good for both you and your baby’s health.
Many HIV positive women all over the world give birth to healthy negative children using ART. There is no medical reason stopping you from having this baby if you decide you want to continue with the pregnancy.
Also, for your health, HIV positive women are not usually at any further risk of pregnancy-related complications than negative women. As far as the HIV is concerned, most women have a small drop in their CD4 count of about 50, but this goes up again once the baby is born. For more information on this please follow this link.
For general information about HIV, Pregnancy and Women’s Health please see this i-Base guide.
Good luck!
Note: this answer was updated in January 2018 from a question first posted in January 2011.
Hi Justine,
If you’ve had sex with your partner without using a condom since his result was negative, then yes he should test. You being on ARVs will reduce the risk of transmission to your baby. However, as this stage its not possible to say if your baby will be negative or not. For more info, please see here:
http://i-base.info/guides/pregnancy
I’ve tested HIV positive on september 2017 started with ARV’s and find out im 3 months pregnant..my partner tested negative and not so long ago weve had unprotected sex… im worried that i might infect him and the unborn baby… is that possible?
Hi Marietta, please ask your doctor, nurse or pharmacy to explain each pill. Odimune contains the ARVs but the other pills might still be HIV-related. For example, antibiotics and often prescribed to protect your health in other ways.
are the other pills that the doctor myt give him except odimune like ARVs
Hi Lebza,
Its not possible to say if your child will be positive or not.You have however done the right thing by restarting meds. This will help reduce the risk of transmission. For more about HIV and pregnancy, please see here:
http://i-base.info/guides/pregnancy
I knew that I was hiv positive before I fall pregnant an did not take my drugs until I got six months an on eight months my viral load was 306 is my child affect by the virus?
Hi Marietta,
Its very common that people are sick when they first start Odimune. This usually however stops after a few weeks. If she’s been ill for longer than this, this she should talk to her doctor. Due to her being pregnant its very important that she doesn’t just stop taking meds.
my friend is six month pregnant and HIV and she went to the. clinic they give him odimune she is very sick now than before what shall she do because she even want to stop taking them
Hi Ronke,
Yes your friend can travel. There are though some countries where people with HIV aren’t very welcome. Info about this can be found here:
http://www.hivrestrictions.org/
Please see Q6 for info about pregnancy:
http://i-base.info/qa/what-are-the-most-asked-questions
Hi, a friend of mine is hiv positive for years, I encourage her to take her drugs. Because she cry most time she think about it. My first question is this, what can she do because she wants to travel out of the country and she’s scared they might detect it through the travel process, second question is that can she get pregnant and can she give birth normally to a healthy baby with operation