Question
My CD4 count is low. Can I have a baby?
7 June 2012. Related: All topics, CD4 and viral load, Pregnancy.
I am 29 years old. I am HIV positive and have been taking ARVs for 5 years.
I want a child but my chances of having a baby are scarce because my CD4 count is low.
What must I do to increase my CD4 cells? Please help me.
Answer
Having a low CD4 count alone should not stop you from having a baby. Many women living with HIV who have a low CD4 count have gone on to have babies.
The most important factor in having a healthy HIV negative baby is having an undetectable viral load by the time you deliver. Please follow this link to our guide to HIV, pregnancy and women’s health. The guide answers a lot of general questions you may have around planning your pregnancy.
I hope you don’t mind if I ask you a few questions before I respond to your second question. This will enable me to give you a more comprehensive answer.
You mention that you have been on treatment for 5 years and that your CD4 count is low. Can I ask how low your CD4 count is? Do you also know what your viral load is? And a finally, do you remember what your CD4 count was when you started taking ARVs (antiretroviral treatment for HIV)?
I can appreciate you are concerned that it is taking long for your CD4 count to increase. This is not uncommon. The rate at which CD4 counts increase is usually related to how low they got before you started treatment. Most people see an increase their CD4 count within a year of starting treatment.
However, if your CD4 count was quite low to begin with it could take you much longer to see more of an increase in your CD4 count. Please follow this link to our guide to An introduction to combination therapy for more detailed information on the rate at which average CD4 counts increases over the years,
Your third question was regarding what you can do in order to increase your CD4 count. By taking ARVs, you are already doing the best you can. This is because, ARVs are the only proven way of not only achieving and maintaining an undetectable viral load, it is the only way of increasing your CD4 count.
Good luck with your future plans.
I’m HIV+ and 23 weeks pregnant!I hvnt tykn any HIV medication to help reduce the risk of my baby being infected,should I be worried?my CD4 count is 860.will starting with AZTs on my 3rd trimester increase my baby’s risk on being infected?Worried!
Hi Matebogo,
Whether you start treatment or not will depend on which country you live in. In some countries all pregnant women are given ARVs, no matter what their CD4 count is. In others you wouldn’t start ARVs yet because your CD4 count is very good. You might just receive ARVs during the later stages of your pregnancy. Please see this page in our pregnancy guide for more information.
Im 14 weeks pregnant can my Cd4 is 600,when 2 start with Arvs
Hi Nothando,
I’m very sorry to hear about your recent diagnosis. It’s not clear if your CD4 count is 617 or 74. These are very different so can you let me know?
How you will protect your baby will be different depending on your CD4 count. You can read about pregnancy and HIV in our pregnancy guide.
Am 22 years old an I found out last week that I am HIV+ ,and am pregnant. My CD4 is 617,74 so my CD4 is it high or low? Then what must i do to protect my baby?
Hi Paul,
Most people get an undetectable viral load 3-6 months after starting treatment. This can take longer if you start with a very high viral load. You can read more about this in our treatment guide.
Hi,
Please for how long can someone stay on ARV treatment before his or her viral load becomes undetectable?
Hi Nono,
Having unprotected sex shouldn’t make you sick. If your husband is HIV positive there is a small risk of reinfection, but this is only relevant if he has any drug resistance, and the risk is generally very low. For more information about pregnancy and HIV please see our pregnancy FAQs.
My CD4 count is 470. For two weeks my husband and I haven’t used condoms because I was trying to conceive. Then what I want know is am I at risk of getting sick?
This varies a lot between different people. I could be 2 years or 20 years. On average it would be likely to be at least 5 years though.