HIV test in pregnancy

[Forafriend]

Am pregnant with no.3 and about to have my booking in bloods. Declined HIV test with DD2 - wasnt offered with DD1. IS it possible to have 2 healthy breastfed DD's, have been with DH (and faithful) for 8 years, we are both healthy .... could i have it and not know???
I did have a couple of partners before DH who i didnt know their sexual history totally (but then who does??)
Am i just panicing at the thought?? Or is it possible??

That's how I saw it, milward, by not knowing I was putting more than just myself at risk.

Although having worked in a blood lab in hospital,I can tell you that no real extra precautions are taken when handling infected or potentially infected blood, than normal. I asked about it when I was new and was told that we should be exercising strict precaustions with every sample anyway, so additional caution should not be necessary.

Well I obviously need my eyes testing then - I totally missed the part where aloha suggested it is safe to have unprotected sex.

Sorry Gwenick but I disagree on your interpretation of alohas statement. By stating that someone is in a low risk group does not mean it is a no-risk group.

Like it or not, it is a fact that African countries have consistently taken up most of the top 10 ?countries of infection? for HIV for many years. Have a go at the medical establishment for using the figures in the information they hand out or at international governments for not giving enough medical aid - but don't stick it to aloha for stating facts.

I'm not disputing their in the top ten countries for infection - but that doesn't mean that if you've never used drugs and live in the UK that you're 'safe'.

I've just found two BBC articles - ones from 2002 where it states that 'at least 34,000 people are living with HIV/AIDS".

The 2nd ( in July last year) says that there are 50,000 people, and 1/3 of them hadn't been diagnosed - and that the figure is likely to double within the next 5yrs.

and snugs - I wasn't the first person to interprate Aloha's comments that way..........

Never said you were Gwenick - if you read my original post it contents 3 questions regarding statements made in response to alohas post. I think you might have made one of those statements.

I didn't mention who had posted what - you were the one to respond to my post, so I replied directly to your comments.

I still don't recall anyone saying that non-drug users who live in the UK are safe. Just that HIV is rare in heterosexual women who are in long-standing faithful relationships, non-drug users and haven't travelled to a high-risk area.

These tests are VERY important and don't be lulled into thinking that blood viruses can only be transmitted via sex or only to high-risk people.

I had my routine bloods and came back positive for Hepatitis B. I have never taken drugs, had a transfusion or been to Asia where it is prevalent. I have had only two sexual partners my current DP is negative. There is a chance it could have come from other partner.

However it is just a likely I might have got it from contamination on a toothbrush, razor or from a stay in hospital. (HBV can live outside body unlike HIV) The situation was made ten times worse by a midwife who decided to inform us of my positive status over the phone at 10.30pm one night. Needless to say I did not feel "shiny and new".

I will never know where it came from and will always feel guilty that there may have been something I could have done differently. Now at 30 weeks pregant can only be grateful I HAD the test and there is a vaccination the baby can have.

If I hadn't been tested my baby would probably have died of liver disease at some point before adulthood. If the vaccination isn't successful this may still happen. We just have to live with not knowing and be grateful that because we found out EARLY it has every chance of working and saving our precious baby.

Don't wish to scare anyone but please don't think that being 'low-risk' means anything - PLEASE have these tests knowing that in all likelihood you'll be negative but if you're not your baby has the best chance if the doctors can treat it early.

Very emotive post MiMiMum. Thank you.

I ticked all the boxes for blood tests and it did get that shiny new feeling.

I think it is a gift to baby to find out your hiv/hbv status, as they become more important than yourself once they get here. I signed away for them and left the rest to faith (or is it fate?)and put it out of my mind as nothing could change the results or reprecussions of what I could get back.

I had never had a voluntary test before and when I thought about doing it 'just to know' I always chickened out.

I'm not ignorant on this subject at all, I'm afraid. I did not say that everyone who has been in Africa is HIV+, nor that it is impossible for anyone to get it, but it IS very, very rare. The majority of women who have contracted HIV and who are detected by prenatal screening contracted the disease in Africa. YOu may find that fact unpalatable but it is true.
I have also, as a journalist tried to find heterosexual women who don't inject drugs, and who contracted HIV from sexual contact with a man who didn't use intravenous drugs in this country and I tell you, they are VERY rare indeed.
I think Forafriend deserves reassurance. I did say that I know what it is like to feel this fear and to make it worse is not particularly helpful IMO.

aloha, just been listening thru to an interview with the father of an hiv+ boy (3 yrs, they live in tanzania) who was infected thru his mother's breastmilk (ie wasn't positive at birth) and it's heartbreaking. the mother is now dead.

What is happening in Africa is awful and tragic and horrific. I don't think anyone could fail to be moved by it. The children on the BBC on Red Nose Day who had lost both their parents were unforgettable.

And I was actually encouraging Forafriend to have the bloomin' test!

absolutely, their sobbing was so poignant, the hairs on the back of my neck are standing up at the very thought of it. this little boy has abcesses on his head and discharge from his ears with all the infections, poor mite

About 70-75% of women diagnosed HIV+ in the UK are from Africa - and the vast majority were infected abroad. The majority of the remainder are intravenous drug users. This isn't racism or bigotry, it's simply factual. I don't think anyone should be complacent in their sexual behaviour, but neither do I think they should be panicked OUT OF taking tests.

I also don't blame them for their plight, and I am glad they get treatment!

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Kama, try ahrf.org.uk. Or Google. It's common knowledge, honestly. 95% of people with HIV live in sub-Saharan Africa. It's not their fault, I'm not criticising or blaming anyone, just pointing out a fact to reassure a worried mother.

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Yes, it is, because once they come to the UK they appear in the UK statistics. As I said earlier around 70 -75% of women with HIV in the UK come from Africa and the vast majority were infected there.