Question
Pregnant and newly diagnosed, do I need to take ARVs?
4 January 2015. Related: All topics, Newly diagnosed, Pregnancy, South Africa.
Hi,
I am pregnant and I just found out that I have HIV. My CD4 is 754.
Should I take ARVs?
What will happen when if I stop the meds after delivering my baby?
If I terminate this pregnancy will I be at risk?
Answer
I’m very sorry to hear about your recent diagnosis.
Finding out you are HIV positive is never easy but finding out while pregnant can be especially hard.
However, it is much better that you found this out now so that you can use ART.
It might also help to know that many women have been through this before. You are not on your own – there are services and care available to help you.
You asked several questions so I will go through each of these one at a time.
Your asked whether you need to take ARVs?
In 2016, most treatment guidelines recommend HIV treatment (ART) for anyone who is HIV positive. This includes during pregnancy.
ART is recommended both for your own health and to prevent transmitting HIV to your baby.
In the UK most pregnant HIV positive women will take three HIV drugs. The choice of drugs will depend on your health and other foctors.
It is generally recommended to continue ART after birth. However, guidelines vary in different countries. Your doctor should be able to tell you what the guidelines are where you live.
You asked what will happen if you stop the meds after delivering your baby.
Your baby should continue to receive treatment for four weeks after birth. If you are breastfeeding you will need to continue to take ART.
Because your CD4 count is so high, if you need to stop treatment at the end of this time, this is also okay. This was the practice for many years.
Guidelines generally now recommend staying on ART though.
You also asked whether you would be at risk if you terminate this pregnancy?
For this I would first ask whether there is a reason why you are considering an abortion, also known as TOP (termination of pregnancy).
Is it because you are worried that the baby may be born positive? If that is the main reason why, then it might be useful for you to know that with access to ART, plus care and support, most women living with HIV have healthy babies that are HIV negative.
It may be, however, that you already have the information above and this is a decision you have chosen to go ahead with for other reasons.
In this case, an abortion should not carry any more risks than it would for an HIV negative woman. This is dependent on the abortion being carried out using the right procedures, in a hospital and with the right treatment and care.
This answer was updated in January 2016 from a question posted on 11 May 2012.
Hi. Please speak to your doctor about this. Being HIV positive is not a reason to have to do this. If this is for other reasons your doctor should be able to help.
I am 3 months pregnant n has just been diagnosed HIV+. I want to terminate this pregnancy before I start any treatment. what should I do.
It’s very important that you keep taking your ARVs to keep HIV to undetectable levels. HIV can be transmitted from mother to child by breastfeeding. If you can get formula and clean bottles you can feed your baby that way. You can talk to your doctor about feeding your baby with formula. But it’s important not to keep changing from bottle feeding to breastfeeding because that will increase the risk to your baby’s health.
You can find out more about feeding your baby here:
http://i-base.info/guides/pregnancy/feeding-your-baby
I’m HIV positive, I’m breastfeeding and I delivered the baby with a C section, and my baby was born HIV negative. I’ve stopped taking ARVs for 3 weeks, what will happen to my baby?
Hi
i-Base is based in the UK, so I am sorry that we don;t have information about specific clinics where you live.
Please talk to the health workers at your clinic though or where you tested. If you decide you want to end the pregnancy then these option will be the same for HIV positive and HIV negative women.
If you are worried about HIV being passed to the baby, then HIV treatment is good at dramatically reducing this risk.
If you don’t want the pregnacy for other reasons please talk to your doctor about local services.
I’m 17 weeks pregnant and I found out that I’m HIV positive..I want to terminate what should I do and where can I go.
Hi,
I’m really sorry to hear about your diagnosis. Thousands of HIV positive mothers give birth to healthy, HIV negative children. THis happens because they are on treatment. Being on treatment helps reduce the risk of mother-to-child transmission. THe aim is to have an undetectable viral load by the time you give birth.
You can speak to your doctor or clinic if you are not already on treatment. They can help you increase the likelihood that your baby will be HIV negative.
I never had a HIV test before i was pregnant. I found that i’m HIV+ with a 410 CD4 count. I’m five months pregnant, i want to terminate, where should i go to terminate this pregnancy?
Hi Asanda,
It’s important to continue on your treatment. Not only will this be good for your own health, but it will also protect your baby and make it much less likely they will be infected. Have you spoken to your HIV doctor about being pregnant?
For more information please see our guide to HIV and pregnancy.
I’m using arv treatment since 2011 , now I’m pregnant should I continue with the treatment until I deliver