19 February 2002

Voluntary HIV counselling and testing - beneficial to pregnant women
PREGNANCY FOCUS WEEK 21-18 FEBRUARY 2002

Prenatal care is critically important for pregnant women. Ideally, women should also know their HIV/AIDS status before becoming pregnant to avoid passing the virus to their unborn child should they test positive.

According to Prof. Wim Sturm, Director of the Medical Research Council's Genital Ulcer Research Unit, babies can contract HIV/AIDS in several ways during pregnancy; labour, delivery and breast-feeding.

During pregnancy, the mother's antibodies are passed on to the baby. So all babies of women with HIV will test positive for HIV antibodies at first. This does not mean they are infected though. Babies keep the mother's antibodies until they can make their own, which happens between 6 and 18 months of age.

In light of this it becomes imperative that all women should receive regular voluntary HIV testing and counselling (VCT). For uninfected women such programmes can provide information to reduce their risk of acquiring HIV. For HIV infected pregnant women these interventions can enable them to receive appropriate and timely help for their own health and to reduce the risk
of passing the virus to their babies.

Women who need more information can visit their local private doctors or Family Planning and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) clinics.