As Bangladesh enters the world of the AIDS, the evidence of its impact is undeniable. Most often, women discover their HIV positive status during their pregnancy.

Thirty-three-year-old Ayesha (not real name) is one such case. She was happy with her two children. Her husband Nuru Safa is an expatriate in a country of Middle East. He used to visit Bangladesh every year for 15 days to one month.

Last time Nuru came here five months ago. After his return, Ayesha could understand that she became pregnant for the third time. Though she was happy, but she didn’t feel well. She was suffering from fever every night. She became weak only after two months of her pregnancy.

Later, she visited their family gynecologist. The doctor gave her some tests. After getting the tests reports, the physician informed her that she is suffering from HIV. She suggested her to be more cautious during her pregnancy.

Gynecologist Dr Monowara Haque said HIV infected women could take child. But there are many risks compared to a normal pregnant mother, she added.

She said child can be infected by HIV in three ways- during pregnancy, delivery and during feeding. “The all women who are conceiving in the recent time have been advised to go under test of HIV. For this, the women would become more cautious during their pregnancy,” she added.

She said it is needed to take safe antiretroviral treatment for protecting children. It is possible for the children to reduce the risk of infection by HIV by one percent if the mother takes proper treatment, she added.

Haque said the HIV infected women who are planning to take child should take advanced advice from the doctors as they can give birth a healthy child. Besides, every HIV infected mother would take advice of concerned physicians when they would feed their children and they (mother and children) should go under the care of doctors, she added.

She said children could be infected by the virus if there is no proper treatment management. For this, everyone should remain alert on this issue and the patients will have to visit the doctors regularly, she added.

Dr. Ishrat Jahan said transmission from mother to child is one of the ways of HIV transmission. “If we consider maternal health and do integration of maternal health and HIV, there would be less risk of HIV transmission from mother to child. For example, if a mother is found HIV positive, she would be counseled for ARV and special services to reduce the risk of transmission. That is one justification for integration of HIV and maternal health,” she added.