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Lack of understanding of treatment benefits may discourage women with HIV from having children – and could increase the risk of vertical transmission
Gus Cairns, 2012-11-16 14:00:00
Two papers presented at the Eleventh International Congress on Drug Therapy in HIV Infection this week in Glasgow suggest that some women with HIV may not be have up-to-date information about the risks of vertical transmission (HIV being passed on from mother to child) – and paradoxically the risk may be increased if they do not take antiretroviral therapy (ART) as a result.
A study from Italy found that 20% of women with HIV overestimated the likelihood of passing on HIV to their babies if they were on ART, and nearly 10% thought that transmission from a mother with HIV to a child was more than 50% likely.
The study also showed that starting ART was associated with a decrease in the desire to have a child and that fear of mother-to-baby transmission was the strongest predictor that a woman reported not wanting to have children.
Meanwhile, a study from two East London hospitals found that although the majority of women with HIV who gave birth there returned for care after giving birth, some did not return for one or two years and that 37% had a viral load over 100 copies/ml when they did return. This study was done, in part, to inform discussions about the possibility of relaxing breastfeeding guidelines in the 2012 BHIVA guidelines on treatment for pregnant women; in the end these guidelines did not change their recommendation of total avoidance of breastfeeding.
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