Dealing with HIV or AIDS when you are pregnant

There are millions of women worldwide who face the issue of AIDS when they are pregnant.  During pregnancy HIV/ AIDS in pregnancy a silver lining is that you are able to give birth. But the sad aspect is that nearly 90 % of new born babies are affected with this type of virus. The silver lining of HIV/ Aids treatment during pregnancy does occur, but before that we need to get into the details first.

The HIV transmission that takes place from the mother to the baby is known as prenatal transmission. This does appears to be the main reason on why kids are affected with HIV virus. The main reason for AIDS appearing is the HIV virus. It is possible that a person might be HIV positive but not be suffering from AIDS. A HIV positive person can transfer the virus to others with semen, vaginal fluids or infected blood that is established through broken skin. If you are affected with AIDS your immune system becomes weak and you cannot ward off diseases like a normal person. You are prone to infections and a host of other health issues that could have fatal consequences on your health in the days to come.

In case if a woman is affected with HIV virus the chances of transmission to the baby is reduced if she remains as healthy as possible. With effective course of treatments the chances of virus passing over to the baby reduces by as low as 2%. There are factors responsible for such a situation and it can be smoking, substance abuse along with vitamin A deficiency to name a few.

If a woman is pregnant or planning to become pregnant it is suggested that you opt for HIV test as soon as it is possible. At the same time the partner of the woman should also be tested. As per medical experts any woman who is exposed to child bearing age needs to be tested for HIV virus before you go on to become pregnant. If a woman has not been tested before become pregnant, they need to be exposed to voluntary counselling and testing during the tenure of pregnancy. If you have not been screened during the course of pregnancy it can be undertaken with rapid tests. The results of the test are out within an hour. In doing so treatment is suggested that leads to a positive outcome on the baby. In most cases HIV test is undertaken via the medium of a blood test.

In most cases, the HIV will not cross from the placenta  of the mother to a baby. If a mother appears to be healthy then the placenta would go on to provide protection for the developing infant. Till the point a complication increases there is no definite reason to increase the number of prenatal visits . In addition special counselling about a healthy diet is given where sufficient amount of vitamins along with nutrients are part of the diet.