Peter Shalit, M.D.Internal Medicine
Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2005. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date. Hello,
We have a friend whom was recently diagnosed as HIV positive.
His girlfriend is pregnant with his child. What are the chances
the baby could have HIV? It appears that the initial blood test
run on the mother when she first became pregnant did not show her
to be HIV +.
Any info you can provide us with would be helpful. We would just like to encourage them to take the right steps and precautions now before the baby arrives. She is due in July.
Peter Shalit, M.D.
Internal Medicine
The mother should have an HIV RNA test and/or an HIV DNA test, which would be a better indicator of early HIV infection. As long as she is negative on these tests, the baby cannot be infected - provided she does not get infected by her boyfriend during her pregnancy. The couple should be very careful to use condoms for intercourse during pregnancy in order to prevent infection of the mother and fetus. Even if condoms are used, the mother might want to be tested at intervals during the pregnancy, if she and her boyfriend are continuing to be sexually active with each other.
If the mother does prove to be infected, or becomes infected before she delivers, she should be treated with antiretrovirals in order to reduce the chances of transmission of the virus to the baby.
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