Mothers and HIV

With Mother’s Day coming up this weekend, I thought I would share some knowledge surrounding mother-to-child-transmission (MTCT), which is so often a topic surrounded by myth and false information.

Primarily MTCT can occur during the pregnancy, the birthing process and through breastfeeding. In Alberta, pregnant women are offered HIV testing although there is an option to ‘opt-out’ of the testing. You can read more on this topic from our November 5/10 blog titled “Opt-out HIV Testing.” By knowing her HIV status ahead of time, a mother can significantly reduce the risk of transmission to her child. It has been shown that by taking the proper medications, a mother’s risk of transmission during delivery can be reduced to under 2%. Without the proper treatment and medications the risk of transmission rises to 20-45% during delivery (Avert, 2011).

Mothers who are HIV positive will be given antiretroviral drugs (ARTs), to help to prevent the transmission to the child and once the child is born, they too will be started on a medication regiment known as Azidothymidine (AZT) for the first six weeks of their life. When a child is born they have their mother’s antibodies, which can be deceiving as the child could test ‘positive’ for HIV without actually being HIV positive. It can take sometime before a child develops their own antibodies and this is why a child is tested for up to 12-18 months after they are born (Alberta Medical Association, 2005). As the standard HIV test measures against antibodies in the system, a child would be tested specifically for the virus itself to determine if they are living with HIV.

As mentioned earlier, HIV can be transmitted through breast milk, which can pose questions of affordability and availability of formula for new mothers. The statistics state that the risk of transmitting the virus from mother to child through breast milk can vary from 20-45% (CATIE, 2009). Unfortunately not every mother has access to clean drinking water to mix with the infant’s formula. This may leave a mother with no choice in her mind but to breast feed, rather than give her child unsafe formula. Studies have shown that if a mother does not have access to ARTs, she is better off to breast feed the entire time rather than go back and forth between formula and breast milk. The mixing of breast milk and formula can break down the lining of the infant’s stomach, therefore potentially increasing the risk of transmission.

In Alberta, an HIV positive mother can access free formula through the Northern and Southern Alberta HIV Clinics. Here at the Calgary Cares Centre, we offer a Positive Women’s Network which is held every second Thursday of the month and is client directed. If you are interested in meeting with fellow positive women and share stories and ideas, or discuss topics like mother to child transmission, we encourage you to come by and be a part of the community!

References:
1.Avert: Averting HIV and AIDS. HIV/AIDS and Pregnancy. Retrieved March 30, 2011.
2.CATIE. You can have a healthy pregnancy if you are HIV positive. Retrieved March 30, 2011.
3.Alberta Medical Association. Information for Health Professionals on HIV and Pregnancy. Retrieved March 30, 2011.

This article was written by one of AIDS Calgary Awareness Association's Case Managers.