Care for HIV-infected women during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum

One of vulnerable groups at risk is women. Women make up 8 percent of people infected with the AIDS virus (HIV) in our country that vast majority of them are young and reproductive age. In recent two decades, an estimated number of AIDS cases that have been won in the perinatal period, has been significantly reduced. The main reason for this decrease was the implementation of prenatal HIV testing and providing antiretroviral therapy to pregnant women and their babies. The purpose of this paper is to support mothers with AIDS and to do efforts for preventing HIV transmission to infants from mothers in order to decrease problems so that they can return to society.

This paper was an overview of the studies, library and Internet search sites Google, SID, science direct, med pub and it has been collected by using the keywords HIV, pregnancy, babies and children in the years 2005-2014.

If Mothers infected with HIV become pregnant, they can transmit the virus to their children during pregnancy, childbirth or after birth through breastfeeding. Postpartum mothers, who are infected with the AIDS virus, probably carry 30 percent of infection through breastfeeding their child. HIV-positive women are also more prone to depression than other groups.

With regard to this perspective that today AIDS is a “disease”, not “crime”, If infected women are treated as a “sick “ not “ criminal “, we can make psychological and material support to HIV-positive women in order for preventing them from complications during pregnancy and childbirth, and transmission to baby.