Transcript of
HIV and pregnancy
HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus.
And, basically, HIV is an illness and it attacks your immune system.
So the main ways of catching HIV are through unprotected sex
with somebody who has HIV.
Other ways that the virus can be passed on
are from a woman to her child during childbirth,
or things like sharing injecting drug use equipment.
Over the years, I thought I'd never be able to have a baby.
I couldn't even look at babies, it was horrible.
And then as time went on,
it was a 15% chance and then a 7% chance
that the baby would contract it mother to baby.
And then it went down to 1%.
Many women assume that if they're pregnant
and they find out they're HIV positive
that they'll pass on HIV to their baby,
but that's not the case these days.
With good treatment they can not pass on HIV to their baby.
As soon as we were married, we started trying.
And, yeah, it took just over a year to actually conceive,
I suppose because it's slightly clinical or technical
in the way that it has to be done.
It may be a bit harder to conceive but it's all worth it in the end.
There are three main ways in which pregnant women
can avoid passing on HIV to their babies.
The first is they can take HIV treatment themselves.
The second is that in some cases they may be offered a caesarean section
rather than a vaginal delivery,
which can help reduce the chance of passing on HIV.
And then the third thing is to avoid breast feeding.
It took me probably the first month to accept that I couldn't breast feed
and for her to stop seeking as well,
so that was really hard, really difficult.
I had to be on the right medication.
There's different combination therapy, but you have to be on a specific one
that stops the virus from crossing over the placenta,
so the baby doesn't contract it.
So you have to be on the right medication to stop that.
And I also knew about the delivery side of things.
They say that they do a caesarean
because there is less chance of the baby getting the virus that way.
But with the viral load being undetectable
there is a chance of giving vaginal delivery as well.
So I just followed all the guidelines,
because all I wanted was my baby to be born safely and well.
You'll be referred to a specialist HIV doctor
who will help not only in terms of your own health
and what you need in terms of treatment and good health,
but will also help prevent your baby getting HIV.
I had all the scans in the middle of the normal ones
that you have to check the baby was developing normally.
And everything was going well because of the medication.
I just did what I could to be safe.
And when I gave birth naturally,
they immediately take the baby and wash any blood that is there.
They immediately wash the baby, so you don't get given your baby immediately.
They're washed straight away and they also have to be put on HIV medication
as a preventative measure for the first month.
Once you've given birth, then your baby will be tested for HIV
and you should know within a few days whether the baby has HIV or not.
And you'll be given a series of follow-up tests
just to check that the baby is doing well and is healthy.
The first one was definitely very nerve-racking. Sorry, I get emotional.
I think we actually cracked open a bottle of champagne and said,
"That's it. Cool. Brilliant."
Because it was really good to find out that she didn't have it.
I would just want to reassure women,
no matter where they come from and what type of strain of HIV they have,
we have very good medications in the UK
and we can treat all pregnant women who have HIV.
Have the tests done, because if you are positive
and you can get on the medication straight away,
it definitely decreases the risk
and hopefully prevents mother-to-baby transmission.
But also I would say to anybody
who thinks maybe they can't ever have a life and have a baby
and have a normal life, the proof is in the pudding.
I'm here, I'm with my husband, I've been positive for 17 years,
I met my husband five years ago, I've got a lovely home,
a lovely husband and a lovely baby.
So it's just proof it can be done and it can be done safely.
