Infant feeding

Infant feeding features

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  South Africa is moving towards an AIDS-free generation, and improving survival in children living with HIV

  Reductions in vertical HIV transmission to infants and improvement in paediatric survival attributable to the scale of and quality improvement of prevention of parent-to-child transmission (PPTCT) and antiretroviral...

  From:  HIV & AIDS treatment in practice

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  Happy families

  Sally Farthing is an HIV specialist midwife at West Middlesex Hospital in Isleworth, west London. She praises the measures – and the mothers – who together have sent...

  From:  HIV treatment update

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  Infant feeding policy debated at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections

  Discussion of how new 2007 evidence affects advice on infant feeding by mothers with HIV....

  From:  HIV & AIDS treatment in practice

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  Safer infant feeding update, part 2

  Debates over early weaning, community support for mothers with HIV and ways of improving the nutritional quality of alternatives to breastfeeding....

  From:  HIV & AIDS treatment in practice

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  Safer infant feeding update

  Review of 2006 evidence on the risks of replacement feeding in infants of HIV-positive mothers....

  From:  HIV & AIDS treatment in practice

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  Safer infant feeding

  Review of evidence about infant feeding choices and operational issues around promotion of exclusive breatsfeeding by mothers with HIV....

  From:  HIV & AIDS treatment in practice

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  Breastfeeding and HIV transmission

  Has the contribution of HIV transmission through breastfeeding been underestimated in the past by PMTCT programmes?...

  From:  HIV & AIDS treatment in practice

Infant feeding in your own words

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  Preventing mother-to-child transmission

  I found out about my HIV status when I was 16 weeks pregnant. After I had an HIV test, I had counselling with the midwife....

  From: In your own words

Infant feeding news from aidsmap

• Breastfeeding with an undetectable viral load: some insights into the current UK situation

  Over a third of HIV-positive women in the final stages of pregnancy or who have recently given birth would like to breastfeed, according to research presented to the recent British HIV Association (BHIVA) conference in Bournemouth. But the study ...

  26 April 2019 | Michael Carter

• Mismatch between US infant feeding policies and the lived experience of HIV-positive women

  US guidelines recommending that HIV-positive women feed their infants formula milk instead of breast milk create unique challenges for patients and healthcare providers alike, according to a mixed-methods study recently published in the Journal of the International AIDS Society. This ...

  26 February 2019 | Krishen Samuel

• New BHIVA guidelines on HIV care in pregnancy and after birth

  New British HIV Association (BHIVA) guidelines on the management of HIV in pregnancy have been issued this month, emphasising the continuing scientific uncertainty over HIV transmission through breastfeeding despite undetectable viral load, and the importance of financial assistance for ...

  05 December 2018 | Keith Alcorn

• Two cases of HIV transmission through breastfeeding in mothers with undetectable viral load reported

  Two cases of HIV transmission from mother to infant during the breastfeeding period when mothers had an undetectable viral load have been reported by PROMISE, a large international study of the effectiveness of antiretroviral treatment in preventing vertical HIV ...

  20 November 2018 | Keith Alcorn

• Breastfeeding with undetectable viral load: genuine uncertainty on risk should be communicated to women with HIV, say Swiss doctors

  Women with HIV on effective antiretroviral treatment in higher-income settings who have undetectable viral load should be supported to make their own decisions about breastfeeding based on a full discussion of the risks and benefits, rather than being discouraged ...

  23 August 2018 | Keith Alcorn

• The “Undetectable = Untransmittable” message goes global: I=I, N=N and B=B

  In Guatemala, the slogan is “Indetectable = Intransmisible” (I=I); in the Netherlands, it’s “Niet meetbaar = Niet overdraagbaar” (N=N); and in Turkey, “Belirlenemeyen = Bulaştırmayan” (B=B). One of the most striking aspects of yesterday’s pre-conference on “Undetectable = Untransmittable” (U=U), ...

  23 July 2018 | Roger Pebody

• Does U=U for breastfeeding mothers and infants? Researchers highlight unanswered questions

  Research is urgently needed to provide clear recommendations on breastfeeding to mothers with HIV who have an undetectable viral load on antiretroviral treatment, a group of researchers say in the journal The Lancet HIV. They say that ...

  11 July 2018 | Keith Alcorn

• Despite reassuring data, we can’t yet say U=U for breastfeeding

  While effective HIV treatment greatly reduces the risk of onward transmission during breastfeeding, it does not appear that the risk is zero, a leading paediatrician told the British HIV Association (BHIVA) conference in London last week. Although formula feeding ...

  22 November 2017 | Roger Pebody

• Study shows that HIV-positive nursing mothers in London can struggle to obtain and afford formula milk

  Many HIV-positive nursing mothers in London are struggling to meet the financial costs of formula feed, according to research presented to the recent conference of the British HIV Association (BHIVA). The study showed that a quarter ...

  18 April 2017 | Michael Carter

• PrEP should be given to all breastfed babies, researchers say

  An international group of researchers involved in the ANRS 12174 randomised controlled trial of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for infants say that it is high time we started giving PrEP to all breastfed babies of HIV-positive mothers ...

  05 April 2017 | Gus Cairns

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Infant feeding news selected from other sources

• HIV Stigma Makes Zambian Mothers Think Twice About Exclusive Breastfeeding

  In Zambia, women who are HIV-positive are encouraged to exclusively breastfeed their babies, but those mothers say extended breastfeeding is a telltale sign that they have the virus.

  15 April 2019 | Global Press Journal

• A step by step process on how we can support mothers living with HIV

  Our team in Toronto has supported four mothers living with HIV who wanted to breastfeed while on effective treatment with fully suppressed viral load. We have to say, though, it wasn’t easy! But we’ll walk you through the steps we followed, which can be used by other healthcare and service providers.

  12 March 2019 | CATIE

• Case series raises important questions about breastfeeding among women with HIV

  Two case reports from Canada recently demonstrated how treatment can prevent HIV transmission from mother to child while breastfeeding, allowing mothers the option to choose how their infants are fed in a resource-rich setting.

  12 March 2019 | Healio

• A formula for success: progress on improving access to formula milk for mothers living with HIV

  Work continues on improving access to formula milk for mothers living across the UK.

  23 January 2019 | National AIDS Trust

• Why U=U does not cover breastfeeding

  Cases of HIV transmission have already been reported when mothers are on ART with undetectable viral load, notably in the PROMISE trial. Latest results presented at AIDS 2018 reported that 2/8 cases when transmission occurred form breastfeeding were in women whose most recent viral load was <40 copies/mL.

  11 November 2018 | HIV i-Base

• Pregnancy and infant feeding: Can we say U=U about the risk of passing HIV to an infant?

  Can an undetectable viral load eliminate the risk of passing HIV to an infant? This article will examine what we know about the risk of passing HIV through pregnancy, childbirth and infant feeding.

  13 February 2018 | CATIE

• No transmissions from breastfeeding in Tanzania cohort from mothers with undetectable viral load

  No HIV exposed infants who were negative at birth, whose mothers started ART before delivery, had suppressed viral loads and exclusively breastfed, were HIV positive after breastfeeding, in a rural African cohort.

  13 November 2017 | HIV i-Base

• Women With HIV Breast-feed in Secret

  Current guidelines recommend that women with HIV avoid breast-feeding, but some do so without advising their physician and without monitoring for the safety of their baby. However, when a woman has an undetectable viral load, the risk is minimal, according to some specialists.

  08 November 2017 | Medscape (requires free registration)

• Breast-feeding by Women With HIV Disputed

  A controversy being debated around the world — whether women living with HIV should breast-feed — was in the spotlight here at the American Academy of Pediatrics 2017 National Conference and Exhibition.

  25 September 2017 | Medscape (free registration required)

• British Mothers With HIV Are Going Hungry To Pay For Formula Milk

  Breastfeeding risks infecting the baby and, according to a new report, mothers living in poverty are sacrificing their health to avoid it. “I have to skip eating lunch to save for food in the evening,” a mum of three told BuzzFeed News.

  03 April 2017 | BuzzFeed

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