What HIV/AIDS treatments should a pregnant woman get?
People with HIV/AIDS generally are treated with combinations of HIV-fighting drugs. These drug combinations often slow the spread of HIV in the body, keep blood levels of the virus low (or even undetectable), and help prevent AIDS-related infections. The U.S. Public Health Service recommends that an HIV-infected pregnant woman receive treatment with these drugs throughout pregnancy (9). Medications may need to be modified as pregnancy progresses. If a woman learns she has HIV in her first trimester and she has not yet been treated with any HIV-fighting drugs, she should be evaluated and decide about treatment with her provider. An infected pregnant woman who is already taking HIV-fighting drugs should continue to take them throughout pregnancy. However, her provider may recommend adjusting or changing medications. Since HIV-fighting drugs are new, it is not yet known whether they pose a risk to the fetus. But these drugs do not appear to pose a significant risk to the fetus when they a
