HIV Prevention During Birth

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Dr. Savage. You're wondering how to prevent HIV infection during birth. With that said, I would like to start off with the very interesting fact. You can actually have HIV, and not transmit the virus, to your baby. Part of your obstetrics workup, is when you find out that you're pregnant, you should be offered HIV testing, in the first or second trimester. Also, you should be offered HIV testing, within the third trimester, as well, if there is any concern about you possibly having it. If you are diagnosed with HIV, or if you know that you have HIV, and you're pregnant, at that point you should consider using the anti-viral therapies, for HIV. You would go through an infectious disease doctor, to do that. There are some risks involved, however, studies have shown that it's generally well tolerated. You would take these medicines, before and during the delivery, and of course, during the delivery, one of the most important things, regarding not transmitting HIV to your baby, other than taking the medicine, is letting the medical staff know that you have HIV, so they can take the necessary steps, of minimizing the fluid transmission from you to your baby. Also, once your baby is born, at that point, you would also consider giving anti-viral therapy to your baby. That's something you should talk to the infectious disease doctor about, and also the OB GYN, and pediatrician. I hope this has been informative. I'm Dr. Savage. Here's to your health."