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.
Hi I am due in a weeks time I did my viral load test when I was 34 weeks and it was 20
And I’m going to have a viginal birth due to delevary on the 1st of December by sonar I was advice to drink water and eat veggies to fully sarpress the virus before delevary.
Should I be worried about transmitting hiv to my baby during the labour.
Hi Thuli,
How long have you been on meds for? When was your viral load test last done? Its not possible to say if your baby will be positive or not. You are however doing the best thing possible by being on meds. Please see here for more info about pregnancy and HIV:
http://i-base.info/guides/pregnancy
Hi I am onARVs for about 2years,my cd4 count was 143,now is472,the problem is my vral load which is 632 and I am 8 weeks pregnant,will my baby be HIV positive?
Hi Slie,
Though your CD4 is important. When someone is pregnant, what’s really important is there viral load. Do you know what yours is? And are you on treatment? If you aren’t on treatment, then you will need to start. For more info about HIV and pregnancy, please see here:
http://i-base.info/guides/pregnancy
I am pregnant, my CD4 count is 240. What are the chances of my child being infected?
Hi Martha,
All women are different. Some women will have problems when they are pregnant and with a low CD4, others won’t. Therefore, I can’t say if its dangerous or not. What’s important is that you look after yourself and that you take your meds. Being on meds is the best thing that you can do for yourself and your baby.
Because your CD4 is below 200 you should also be taking Co-trixomazole. This will help prevent other infections. If you aren’t already taking this, please talk to your doctor.
Due to you being pregnant, you may find our HIV and pregnancy guide helpful:
http://i-base.info/guides/pregnancy
Is a CD4 count of 94 dangerous when you’re pregnant? I started ARVs at 8weeks.
Hi Ephraim,
What you need to know about testing for HIV can be found here:
http://i-base.info/qa/11844
If you are interested in knowing more about what a CD4 count is please see here:
http://i-base.info/qa/20
And for viral loads here:
http://i-base.info/qa/6570
My question is about CD4 count and viral loads. Which one tells you if you have HIV?
Hi Chrissy. It would help me to knwo how hight your viral load now is and which HIV drugs you are now taking. If your viral load is more than 200 copies/mL then talk to your doctor about the choices to change treatment.
Even though your CD4 count is good and strong, your viral load is linked to the risk of passing HIV to your baby. This means you probably need a new combination if you want to become pregnant.