Pregnancy

[DanKenny]

Hello,

Happy New Year to you all:

I am posting this on behalf of a friend - while he is awaiting his registration for membership on this forums:

-- He is poz+ but his girl friend is not.
-- His girlfriend is aware of his condition since he disclosed from the very beginning.
-- He is on medication and has been undetectable for a while
-- They both want children, and the girlfriend is currently pregnant (which meant at some point, they did have unprotected sex for the sake of conception).

He wants the lady to start prenatal care, but given that HIV issues would be involved, what kind of prenatal care should they seek? I suspect he would have to see an OBY-GYN who is versed in HIV issues?  Is that the case?  And if so, where can he get information about such services?

Thanks - DanKenny

[Ann]

Hi Dan. As long as the woman is still hiv negative, there will be no hiv issues with her pregnancy and therefore no need for any specialised care.

She really should have an hiv antibody test at least six weeks after the last incident of unprotected intercourse. (The vast majority of people who have actually been infected will seroconvert and test positive by six weeks - and a six week negative should be confirmed at the three month point.) If she does happen to also be poz, she can be put on meds so the baby is not born with hiv.

Your friends need to know that while being undetectable may mean that he is less likely to infect her, it does not mean that it cannot happen. Now that she's pregnant it would be prudent for them to always use condoms for intercourse.

[franfrog]

Ann pretty much said it.  If she is still testing negative there should be no reason she should have to worry about the baby. 
Hope all goes well.