Question
I'm pregnant – why do I need a second HIV test?
8 February 2012. Related: All topics, HIV testing, Pregnancy.
I am pregnant and had one test done so far and it was negative. My doctor said that I will have another done in 3 months. Why is this?
Answer
UK guidelines recommends testing during pregnancy because this is good for both you and your baby. The earlier you find out if you are positive, the earlier you can use treatment to reduce the risk of your baby becoming positive.
A second test is usually given for two reasons:
HIV tests do not always pick up early infection. Testing at least 12 weeks from the time of your last exposure will give you close to 100% accuracy. Earlier tests may miss 5% of infections.
Secondly, women who are pregnant have a slightly higher risk of infection if you are not using condoms.
Without knowing your circumstances or your partners HIV status, it good health practice to have a second HIV test during pregnancy.
Your consultant just wants to make sure that your baby is safe. This is also part of the routine check up for pregnant women.
Please take a look at the link for more information on testing results.
Hi Hammanskraal, I am sorry but these are question you and your wife need to ask the doctor about. I can’t interpret test results when these are not clear. Please talk to the doctor to explain this. If your wife is HIV positive then the treatment will be very important for her health and for the baby. HIV needs to be confirmed first though as sometimes the first test can be wrong.
My wife was tested positive during the early stages of her pregnancy and I was tested negative and she was put on ARV Treatment what does that mean? This happens for the second time, in her second pregnancy it did also happen but the second test she tested negative. I wondering what would happen now during the second test. What I also like to know is that what is the cause of this?