HIV treatment during pregnancy

Begin treatment after diagnosis. Remember that the treatment will go for life, so do not interrupt it. Treatment is necessarily carried out during pregnancy and lactation.

If you have HIV before pregnancy, be sure to consult your doctor about the regimen of medication. Some drugs can adversely affect the fetus and pregnancy, so doctors replace them or reduce the dosage.

HIV treatment during pregnancy is carried out in order to protect the child, not the mother.

Therapy is carried out in three ways:

1. ARV drugs during pregnancy. Treatment is carried out up to 28 weeks of pregnancy.
2. ARV drugs during labor. AZT (retrovir), nevirapine intravenously and in the form of tablets is used.
3. ARVs for infants. After birth, the child consumes syrup neviramine or azilothymidine.

If the therapy was not carried out during pregnancy and during labor, then ARV drugs for infants are not used.

The positive effect of ARV drugs on children prevails over the side effects.

Pregnancy does not increase the development of HIV infection in women in the first stage of the disease.

Signs of HIV during pregnancy

• Heat;
• Sore throat;
• Increased lymph nodes;
• Diarrhea.

In 60% of those infected, HIV flows without symptoms and signs.

HIV diagnosis during pregnancy

Women should be tested for HIV:

• At the planning stage of pregnancy;
• In the third trimester;
• After giving birth.

Your partner must also be tested for HIV.

You can take the analysis at any time, even if you previously refused.

Analyzes are taken from women by donating blood from a vein. False positive and false negative results are possible if the woman has chronic diseases.

HIV tests for pregnancy:

1. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)  – shows the production of antibodies to HIV.
2. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)  – shows free viruses in the blood.

Impact of HIV on a child

A child may get sick with HIV during:

• pregnancy (through the placenta);
• childbirth. Contact with mother’s blood occurs;
• breastfeeding.

To prevent this from happening, a pregnant woman should be monitored by a doctor. The risk of infection increases if the expectant mother uses drugs and alcohol.

The effect of HIV on pregnancy can be in the form of miscarriages, premature birth, and the birth of dead children.

The doctor determines the possibility of infecting a child. If the danger of infection is high, with the consent of the mother, the birth is carried out using a cesarean section.

Natural childbirth is permitted in the case of low levels of HIV in the blood.

Breastfeeding is not recommended for an HIV-infected mother. If feeding the baby in other ways is not possible, breast milk must be boiled.

Children born to an HIV-infected mother should:

• be seen at the pediatrician AIDS center;
• undergo prophylaxis of pneumocystic pneumonia;
• be screened for infections;
• be observed in the local clinic;
• to be vaccinated.

Vaccination is carried out in accordance with the vaccination schedule.