One of the first comments from newly diagnosed young women I hear is, ‘I will never be able to have children’. Years ago this was a concern as medical data and medication were limited. I was older when diagnosed and had already had the joy of having my children, which put me in a position to understand when someone voiced these concerns as to just how much they thought this was an impossible dream.
An HIV-positive person could potentially transfer HIV to their baby throughout pregnancy, delivery, or breastfeeding. Being HIV positive does not mean that you cannot have children. Treatment with a combination of HIV medicines called antiretroviral therapy or ART can prevent transference of HIV to your baby and safeguard your health.
During pregnancy, HIV can pass through the placenta and infect the foetus. During childbirth, the baby may be exposed to the virus from blood and other fluids. When a woman goes into labour, the amniotic sac breaks (when her water breaks) and therefore, the risk of transmitting HIV to the baby rises.
The good news is that there are many ways to lower the risk of passing HIV to your unborn baby to almost zero.
You, the woman in the relationship, may not be the one that is HIV positive and wondering how to conceive if your partner is the one living with HIV. There is a variety of ways to achieve your purpose.
UNDETECTABLE VL
When a person living with HIV has an undetectable viral load, there is no risk of HIV transmitting HIV during sex. Provided your HIV partner has an undetectable viral load (for at least six months after the first ‘durably undetectable’ test.) and neither of you has any sexually transmitted infection/disease (STI/STD), sex without a condom is acceptable.
If you or your partner have a detectable viral load it is essential to discuss conception options that reduce or remove the risk of transference during intercourse to you or your partner and baby. Before deciding not to use condoms, get advice from your HIV healthcare providers so that they can establish what would work best for you. One of the options may be to join up with your HIV-negative partner taking PrEP (Pre-exposure prophylaxis). PrEP decreases HIV transmission and is safe to take during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
BOTH HIV POSITIVE
If both partners are HIV positive, both must have an undetectable viral load to prevent reinfection. Reinfection can lead to transmitted resistance whereby a drug-resistant variant can transfer to a partner. Should this happen, some HIV drugs may not work.
Currently, the drugs of choice for HIV in pregnancy are the antiretroviral drugs dolutegravir, and emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide fumarate, (DTG+FTC/TAF). These may compromise the safest and most effective HIV treatment regimen, which is currently available during pregnancy.
MOTHER-TO-CHILD TRANSMISSION
Overall, the risk of mother-to-child transmission of HIV is 40% in the absence of any intervention. The timing of such transmission is as follows: in utero: 5%; during delivery: 15–20%; up to 24 months of breastfeeding: 20%. https://sahivsoc.org/Guidelines/Module19
In 21 countries in sub-Saharan Africa surveyed in 2019, the transmission rate varied between 2 and 25%. The countries with the best figures were Botswana, Eswatini, South Africa and Namibia (all below 5%).
If you, your partner or both are HIV positive, ask your medical service provider for guidance on the most suitable procedure that will suit you and your partner’s situation.
The next blog will provide information on breastfeeding vs formula feeding – you decide.
A chronic condition can affect anyone. How you manage it is what makes the difference.
You can get cover of up to 1 million rand for your chronic health condition and up to 10 million if you are living with HIV.
SMS CHRONIC to 33857 to find out more,
I did!
