Information if you are pregnant and have a positive result for HIV
What your blood test result means?
Your result means you have the HIV infection. This does not mean that you are ill. Effective treatment is available to help you stay healthy.
What is HIV?
HIV is a virus that attacks the immune system which is the body’s defence against illness. Without treatment, the immune system becomes weaker over time, making it harder for your body to fight infections and serious illnesses.
There is very effective treatment available which means you can expect to live as long as anyone else. Knowing you have HIV means you can be monitored and supported by a specialist team and receive treatment. This will help keep you healthy.
HIV and pregnancy
Without treatment, HIV can be passed from mother to baby during pregnancy, birth or breastfeeding.
By knowing you are HIV positive and having the right treatment and care, the chance of passing HIV to your baby is less than 0.3% (1 in 300), which is extremely low. The right care e helps keep you and your baby healthy.
HIV is not passed through everyday contact
You cannot pass HIV to other people through everyday social contact. This includes shopping, spending time with friends and family, eating meals together, sharing towels or toilets, using the same cutlery, or kissing.
How can HIV be passed on?
HIV can be passed on in the following ways.
- From a mother to her baby during pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding. If you have other children, your HIV specialist will talk to you about whether they should be tested.
- Having sex with someone who has HIV without using a condom.
- Blood transfusions or blood products that contain HIV. In the UK, blood has been tested for HIV since 1985, but this may not be the case in some other countries.
- Sharing needles or injecting equipment with someone who has HIV.
- Using unclean needles for piercing, tattooing or medical procedures outside the UK.
- Accidental injuries from used needles or sharp items that may have blood on them (sometimes called ‘needle stick injuries’).
What will happen next?
You will be offered an appointment at a specialist clinic for an assessment, and full health check and to review the stage of your HIV infection. The specialist team will continue to see you regularly, both during pregnancy and after your baby is born.
Your midwife will also help you to plan your care and discuss your choices, and make sure you have the support you need.
Monitoring the HIV infection
You will have regular blood tests to check your health. These tests help your specialist team monitor your condition and make sure your treatment is working. Blood tests will include:
- a CD4 count which shows how strong your immune system is, and
- a viral load test, which measures the amount of HIV in your blood.
Treatment for you
You will be offered and recommended treatment during your pregnancy and when you give birth. This treatment helps to:
- keep you as healthy as possible, and
- prevent HIV from being passed to your baby during pregnancy and birth.
HIV treatment works by stopping the virus from growing. This lowers the amount of HIV in your blood (known as the viral load).
It is recommended that you continue treatment after your baby is born. If you have any worries, it is important that you discuss them with the HIV specialist team, they are there to support you.
What can I do to protect my baby from HIV?
Without treatment, about 25% to 40% of babies (25 to 40 in every 100) born to mothers with HIV would get the infection. By following the steps in this leaflet, such as taking HIV treatment during pregnancy and birth, the risk can be reduced to less than 0.3% (1 in 300).
You will be offered and recommended HIV treatment while you are pregnant and when you give birth. This helps to keep you healthy and greatly reduces the chance of passing HIV to your baby.
Delivery
If your HIV is well controlled and your pregnancy is uncomplicated, your choices for delivering your baby will usually not be affected by HIV.
Feeding your baby
The safest way to protect your baby from HIV is to feed them with formula milk. Breast feeding is not recommended for women who are HIV positive because HIV can be passed to your baby through breast milk. Your HIV specialist team will talk to you about feeding options before your baby is born and support you to make the best choice for your baby’s health.
It is recommended that you use formula milk until your baby is about 12 months old.
Treatment for your baby
Your baby will be given anti-HIV medicine for up to four weeks after birth to provide extra protection. This is given as liquids. They may also be prescribed antibiotics. Your baby will be seen at a specialist children’s clinic, where the team will discuss tests and treatment with you.
HIV testing for your baby
It is recommended that your baby has blood tests soon after birth, at six weeks and at 12 weeks.
If the blood test results at birth, six weeks and 12 weeks are negative and you are not breastfeeding, your baby should not have HIV. A final test at 18 months will confirm this. This is because your baby may carry your HIV antibodies until they are around 18 months old. These antibodies do not mean your baby has HIV, they are passed from you before birth. The final test checks for HIV infection, not just antibodies.
Who should know that I have HIV?
To make sure you and your baby have the safest and most appropriate care, your midwife may need to share relevant information with other specialists involved in your care, such as:
- the HIV clinic team,
- the obstetrician (hospital doctor who cares for pregnant women); and
- the paediatrician (a doctor who cares for babies and children).
These specialists work with you, to plan your care and keep you and your baby safe. Sharing information in this way is a normal part of NHS care.
Your midwife will explain what information needs to be shared and why. You can choose whether you want your GP to know about your HIV care and diagnosis. Telling your GP about your HIV diagnosis can help to avoid any problems with medicines interacting with your HIV treatment.
Your personal information is always kept confidential and is only shared with healthcare staff directly involved in your care.
Talking to your partner
You may want to ask your HIV specialist for advice on how to explain your test result to your partner.
If your partner does not know whether they have HIV:
- use condoms to reduce the chance of passing HIV to them; and
- encourage your partner to get tested at their GP surgery or sexual health clinic.
Where can I get more information?
You can get more information from:
- the hospital midwife who specialises in antenatal screening,
- the obstetrician
- your nearest NHS sexual health clinic, call your local hospital and ask for the sexual health clinic; and
- other people. You may want to talk to other women who have HIV. The Terrence Higgins Trust can help arrange this.