What to do in the event of a positive test when you are pregnant?
What to do in the event of a positive test?
The doctor trained to take charge of HIV after long information sessions (counseling) will offer tests to assess the degree of the disease: CD4, viral load and anemia. Tests are also requested from the partner. Depending on the level of involvement, he will recommend taking anti-retroviral drugs after the 3rd month of pregnancy for very sick women. In these cases, women will continue their treatment after childbirth. For women with little disease, it is advisable to take medication until delivery.
In all cases, the baby will take one or two syrup medications from birth. Artificial breastfeeding is highly recommended.
Increasingly, it is advisable to start ARVs as soon as the test is positive, as this helps to reduce contamination.
Are all HIV positive women banned from breastfeeding?
The HIV virus passes into breast milk and breastfeeding increases the risk of baby becoming infected. It is therefore advisable for women able to assume artificial breastfeeding to use it. In cases where this is not possible, short term exclusive breastfeeding (6 months) is recommended with abrupt cessation.
Can an HIV-negative woman with an HIV-positive husband infect her baby?
The woman herself must be infected before transmitting the disease to her baby. This is why we recommend wearing condoms for different HIV-positive couples.
Is caesarean section compulsory for HIV positive women?
The mere state of "seropositive" does not oblige to resort to cesarean section. However, when a caesarean is performed before any start of labor, the water pocket being intact, the contamination rate is very reduced. Cesarean section is therefore advised in a work situation which is likely to be difficult and in cases where the medication was taken late in very affected women.
In case of vaginal delivery, it is recommended to do everything so that labor does not last long, to avoid breaking the pouch early and above all to respect strict asepsis instructions. The baby will be washed with antiseptic products.
