JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – HIV-positive mothers will now have the support of their physicians if they choose to breastfeed their baby as long as they take their HIV medication, according to new guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics.
“It gives us hope,” said Sharonda Lynn, an HIV-positive mother and advocate.
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HIV can be passed to a baby through breastfeeding, but the change stems from the low rates of transmission and the desire mothers have to breastfeed their children. According to the report, in the past, over 30% of transmissions of HIV were from breastfeeding, but now the transmission rate in the United States is 1%.
However, HIV can still be passed to a baby through breastfeeding, even with the mother on antiretrovirals, which are the medications used by HIV patients to suppress the virus.
In 2020, 6,395 people were living with HIV in Duval County.
“To be clear the only way to prevent transmission of HIV infection from an HIV-infected mother to a baby is not to breastfeed,” said Dr. Mobeen H. Rathore, Director of the UF Center for HIV/AIDS and a professor in the College of Medicine.
However, Dr. Rathore stated that women who want to breastfeed need to follow certain precautions and will need to consult their physician on the matter.
“If the HIV-infected pregnant woman wants to breastfeed her baby, then we have to make sure that there are certain safeguards, the most important is that the mother’s HIV viral load is undetectable,” Rathore said.
Dr. Rathore added that the baby being breastfed would need to be on medications for HIV to protect the baby from transmission.
“We also have to do more frequent testing in the baby to make sure that at no point in time, the baby has gotten the infection because even with the mother’s viral load being undetectable, and baby being on anti-viral combination for a longer period of time, the chance of transmission is still there,” Rathore said.
Lynn founded Having Incredible Victory, an organization promoting the end of HIV stigma in Jacksonville.
“Being a positive woman of 20-plus years, I wanted to make sure that women had the opportunity to understand their health, understand living with HIV, the impact of how we have to live and knowing to try to remove the stigma of HIV in women,” Lynn said.
Lynn is a mother of three children. She was diagnosed after her first child, and she was worried that her two children may come out positive due to the types of medication offered many years ago. However, her children are not HIV positive.
“I really felt like a part of motherhood was taken away from me. A part of bonding with my children was taken away from me,” Lynn said.
The education of HIV is important to Lynn, and so Having Incredible Victory is not just an organization, but a way for people to know they are not just a diagnosis.
“I just wanted to have a new look to HIV to let people around the world know that you still can live after the diagnosis,” Lynn said.
Renee Burgess is an advocate of HIV education and is a motivational speaker about the virus. She has been diagnosed with HIV for 17 years. She found out she had HIV from her ex-husband, who, at the time, knowingly gave it to her while she was pregnant.
“I’ve learned a lot about the judicial aspect of things, I’ve learned about the medical side of having a diagnosis and I’ve learned so many different things. That led me to want to educate so I’ve been probably educating and sharing my story since I was still pregnant with my twins,” Burgess said.
Burgess shared that she did not breastfeed her twins once they were born.
“Because this was 2007, it was still that moment of don’t breastfeed, the doctors were very adamant about it,” Burgess said.
Burgess stated that she thinks the American Academy of Pediatrics is moving in the right direction.
“It just makes things a lot better for mothers who are positive because like, you know, like we were saying, that’s a bonding moment and to know now, they’re able to experience that,” Burgess said.
Burgess said that mothers have a responsibility to prevent transmission and that they need to realize how to do so.
“[Mothers] have to understand they have to take their medications and the baby is going to have medications to take,” she said.
If you or anyone you know needs information on HIV testing, medication or other information, please visit The Florida Department of Health’s HIV/AIDS website.