To all who have raised this thorny issue of HIV exposure of moms through
their partners' high risk actions: although there are no easy answers to
what can be done in such a case, it points out the great importance of
getting partners involved in the breastfeeding counselling right from the
prenatal period on. The more informed the partners are, the more
supportive of breastfeeding they are likely to be. Although it's no
guarantee, one would also hope that a father may think that much more
about engaging in high-risk behaviors if he knew that it could affect not
only his partner but his child (born and unborn). Granted, there are
some for whom this knowledge would have no effect, and that is one of the
sad facts of life. Alicia. [log in to unmask]