Treating Hiv Aids For Mother And Child
Pregnancy is always an exciting situation for any woman. It is a stage where every woman enjoys her life to fullest. The arrival of a child is the happiest moment for the entire family. When a woman is pregnant there are many hormonal changes which take place. Some of them do not face any kind of complications but on the other hand there are many who face severe complications before their pregnancy. This can cause severe physical and emotional stress to the couple.
There are many complications which can be avoided if the mother takes proper care. There are few which are unavoidable and one should know these signs well in advance so that they can be treated on time. It is possible to treat the pregnancy complications if they are detected on time. It is important that expecting mothers go for regular check-ups which will help them to know about any persisting problem during pregnancy. Among the complications – the latest one is HIV / AIDS during pregnancy. This is a dangerous situation if it is not treated on time.
According to a latest study there are more than 120,000 pregnant women who have hiv aids during pregnancy. The best part is they give birth and more than 90 percent of them have their babies infected with HIV. The HIV is transferred to the baby during the perinatal period. This is the time when the baby is breastfed as soon as the child is born. This is the most common areas when the child is infected with HIV.
There are various medicine for hiv during pregnancy – but to start with the women who are planning to have a child – or those who are in the early stages of their pregnancy need to get themselves tested for HIV AIDS. The mothers can have a healthy baby without AIDS with a multi-care approach. The expectant mother should be supported physically, mentally and psychologically. She can also get help and counseling from various agencies ranging from housing, food and childcare.
Besides this there are drugs which can treat the problem of HIV AIDS in the pregnant women. The most well-known medicine is the Zidovudine – this is the world’s first licensed drug which is meant to treat HIV AIDS. This drug is given to the infected mother along with other antibiotic. This helps in prevention of perinatal transmission of HIV AIDS. The doctors recommend that the Zidovudine drug has to be given to the expectant mother right from the second trimester – once it is detected. This drug is to be continued throughout the delivery. There are many side effects to this drug – most of them face the problem of vomiting and nausea and also there could be variations in the white and red blood cell count.
Once the delivery is over – in most of the cases the baby is not infected by HIV AIDS – but to ensure and to be on a safer side it is better to treat the baby with Zidovudine for the first six weeks. This will ensure that the child is safe from this disease.