Greetings Everyone,
I just received my latest AWHONN news digest with the following information
about HIV. I just thought I would share this with my friends at Lactnet.
Roni Chastain

**Mother-to-child HIV transmission **
A recent study concludes that pregnant women who are infected with HIV
should avoid undergoing amniocentesis and other invasive antenatal
procedures due to the risk HIV transmission to fetuses from the
procedures.  Researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical
Medicine studied 434 children born to HIV-infected women to collect
data; 69 of the children became  infected with HIV.  The study found
that the children of women who had undergone amniocentesis during their
third trimester of pregnancy were significantly more likely to contract
HIV than others.  Other factors found to be associated with
mother-to-child HIV transmission included: black race, negative Rhesus
blood group status, breastfeeding, and premature birth.  The study is in
the journal AIDS (1998;12:513-520).