Voluntary Testing for Pregnant Women Essay -- Pregnancy Birth Papers

Voluntary Testing for Pregnant Women During the past decade, the human immunodeficiency virus (human immunodeficiency virus) has bring into being a leading cause of mortality among women. This population is now be for the most rapid increase in cases of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in recent years. As the numbers of cases of human immunodeficiency virus infection have increased among women, particularly of childbirth age, increasing numbers of children have become infect as well. unlike studies conducted to date indicate that between 1/4 and 1/3 of infants born worldwide to women infected with human immunodeficiency virus have become infected with the virus themselves (HIV InSite, 1997). This is due to the route of transmission known as good transmission, from mother to infant. Thus, HIV infection has now also become a leading cause of mortality among young children, and virtually all of these infections preempt be attributed to vertical transmission. More tha n 4 million Ameri tummy women raise up pregnant each year, an estimated 8,000 of them HIV infected. (USA Today, 1999) HIV can be contractable from an infected woman to her unborn fetus or newborn during pregnancy, during craunch and delivery, and even during the postpartum period via breastfeeding. Reports show vertical transmission rank ranging from 13% to 40% (HIV InSite, 1995b). This translates into approximately 1,000-2,000 HIV-infected infants being born each year in the United States. Although transmission of HIV to a fetus can authorize as early as the second month of development, look for suggests that at least one half of vertically transmitted infections from non-breastfeeding women occur shortly after or during the birth process (HIV InSite, 1995a). Due to the distressfulness of vertical transmission, there have been ... ...d the Physician-Patient Relationship. AIDS & Ethics. Ed. Reamer, Frederic G. New York Columbia UP, 1991 188-214. PHS Guidelines for HIV Counse ling and Voluntary Testing for Pregnant Women. Factsheet Public health Service. CDC. July 1995. (Article, HIV InSite, HIVInSite.ucsf.edu/topics/women/). Public Health Service Task Force Recommendations for the Use of Antiretroviral Drugs in Pregnant Women Infected with HIV-1 for Maternal Health and for Reducing Perinatal HIV-1 transmittance in the United States. MMWR Reports, Vol. 47, January 30, 1998 No. RR-2. (Article, HIV InSite, hivinsite.ucsf.edu/medical). US Public Health Recommendations for Human Immunodeficiency Virus Counseling and Voluntary Testing for Pregnant Women. US Department of Health & Human ServicesPublic Health Service. July 7, 1995. (Article, HIV InSite, hivinsite.ucsf.edu/medical/).