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.
Good day I’m 3months pregnant jst found out that I’m Hiv positive and my Cd4 246 and my VL it’s 25700 the problems is I’m not using a condom with my husband what are the chances of infacting my unborn child
Hi Nompilo,
You having sex without a condom won’t have any impact on your child. For more info about pregnancy, please see here: http://i-base.info/guides/pregnancy
Hi iam iam on treatment already and aslo pregnant bt we dont use condom with my partner we already on treatment can our baby be positive?
Hi Lusanda,
Its not possible for me nor anyone else to say if your baby will be negative or not. However, being on medication will reduce the risk of transmission. There’s more about this here: http://i-base.info/guides/pregnancy.
Hie am lusanda I just find out that am HIV positive on my first time to the clinic an I’ve started to take my madicatioin already an am 7 months pregnant my baby is gonna be health? When I give birth
Hi Farida,
Its good to hear that you’re going to be starting ARVs next week. This is very important for your own health. The medication will also help reduce the risk of transmission to your baby. Please see the following guide: http://i-base.info/guides/pregnancy
With regards to your baby, no one can say at this time if your child will be negative or not. However as I’ve said, being on medication is key.
Am 28weeks pregnant when I first visited my antenatal clinics I was texted HIV positive and my husband was negative ave not started any medication yet but am planning to start next visit… Could it be possible that my child will be healthy by now until when will start medics this month until delivery…. Will I give birth to healthy baby? Am I late for medication? Please help me
Hi Blessy.
The important thing is to start medication as soon as possible. This will reduce the risk of transmission to your child. If your viral of is 20 and you aren’t on treatment this would imply that you’re an elite controller. You will however still need to use medication. Please see the following guides:
http://i-base.info/guides/starting
http://i-base.info/guides/pregnancy
You’ll need to discuss birthing options with your doctor.
Am hiv +and 8 34 week preg not on treatment jct find out now so I jct start treatment now my viral load is 20 and cd4 660 .can i give birth naturally?
Hi Gugu,
It’s good that you started ARVs at 2 months pregnancy.
Starting ART as early as possible aims to get an undetectable viral load by the time of delivery. Some ARV combinations, particularly with integrase inhibitors get viral load to undetectable very quickly.
The benefits of ARVs are not just to your own health. Treating your HIV can help reduce the risk of your baby becoming HIV positive to almost zero.
There’s much more info in this guide to HIV, pregnacy and women’s health.
If you think you’re drinking too much you can talk to your doctor about this.