What happens to the baby of a woman who gets infected with HIV during pregnancy?

There is a possibility of transmission to the newborn. HIV transmission from mother to child during pregnancy, labor, delivery, or breastfeeding is called perinatal transmission. Perinatal HIV transmission is the most common way children are infected with HIV. Factors that increase the risk of transmission include:

• Smoking
• Substance abuse
• Vitamin A deficiency
• Malnutrition
• Infections such as STDs
• Clinical stage of HIV, including viral load (quantity of HIV virus in the blood)
• Factors related to labor and childbirth
• Breastfeeding

Effect of HIV on pregnancy

How can this affect my pregnancy?

In most cases, HIV will not cross through the placenta from mother to baby. If the mother is healthy in other aspects, the placenta helps provide protection for the developing infant. Factors that could reduce the protective ability of the placenta include in-uterine infections, a recent HIV infection, advanced HIV infection or malnutrition. There are many complication that fetus may develop.