Counselling the HIV positive pregnant woman

Abstract

In Europe and America today most women infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are found to belong to groups at high risk for HIV infection. That is, they or their sexual partners have been injecting drug users,⁽¹⁾ or they are the partners of bisexual men or haemophiliacs,^(2.3) or they or their partners have had sexual contact with people from the Caribbean or Central Africa.⁽⁴⁾ However, there is increasing evidence that HIV infection now extends to heterosexually active young people with none of these traditional risk factors. Hoff et al ⁽⁵⁾ found a 0.2% prevalence rate for HIV infection in women giving birth in hospitals in Massachusetts, but noted that the infection rate varied within the geographical area sampled, being highest (0.8%) in inner city hospitals and lowest in suburban and rural hospitals (0.09%). Tempelis et al ⁽⁶⁾ noted cases of HIV infection in serum samples from blood collected in sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinics and premarital testing sites in the San Francisco Bay area which indicate that HIV is present in heterosexuals with no other risk factors than unprotected sexual intercourse.