What Every Pregnant Woman Should Know About HIV & AIDS

What is HIV and how is it different from AIDS?

HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. If you have HIV, you are HIV positive. The virus can eventually progress until you have AIDS. There is no cure for AIDS. With treatment, many people live many years after they are diagnosed.

Have you recently had an HIV test?

Many women with HIV have no symptoms and do not know that they are infected. For your health and that of your baby’s, you should know for sure if you are infected with HIV. Especially if you are thinking about getting pregnant, you should consider getting tested. If you were tested more than six months ago, get tested again.

If you are infected, there are things you can do to protect your baby. If you are not infected, there are things you can do to protect yourself from HIV. At Woman’s, we offer an HIV test to every woman who is pregnant or planning to conceive.

Three ways to avoid HIV infection.

• Do not have sex at all.
• Use a latex condom every time you have sex if there is any chance that your sex partner has ever had sex with anyone else, or ever used injected drugs, or has never been tested for HIV.
• Do not use injected drugs or share needles or syringes.

If there’s no cure, how will a test help you and your baby?

If infected, you can start treatment early, which may help you live a longer, healthier life.

Your healthcare team will also be able to take steps towards helping your baby avoid infection. Without treatment and special safety procedures, about 25 percent of babies born to mothers with HIV are born with HIV infection.

What treatment is available?

The drug AZT has been known to greatly reduce the chances that you’ll give HIV to your baby. In one study, AZT reduced the transmission rate by 67 percent! For more information on AZT and pregnancy, ask your Woman’s healthcare team or call the CDC National AIDS Hotline at 1-800-342-AIDS and ask for a free copy of “You, Your Baby and AZT.”

How can I get an HIV test?

Ask your doctor or nurse at Woman’s. HIV testing is available at Woman’s Hospital and will likely be recommended to you by your Woman’s healthcare providers.

Other sources of information on HIV testing and treatment:

National AIDS Hotline (English) – 1-800-342-AIDS
National AIDS Hotline (Spanish) – 1-800-344-7432
Hearing Impaired, TTY – 1-800-243-7889
AIDS Treatment Information Service (ATIS) – 1-800-HIV-0440