I heard a few years ago about an interesting approach to bfing when mom is
HIV positive.  During pregnancy and the very early days of lactation, there
are spaces between alveolar cells, and it's possible for substances to
travel directly from capillary to alveolar lumen, without going thru the
cells.  As lactation continues, the spaces between the cells close, so
there is no direct connection between capillary and lumen.

It was suggested that HIV positive moms *not nurse* in the first few days,
but pump and wait for those intercellular "alleyways" to close up, greatly
reducing the possibility that viral particles could make the jump from
capillary to milk.

The downside, of course, is that the baby not only doesn't nurse at first
but also doesn't get colostrum, and he's a baby who could use it more than
most.

Has anyone else heard of this proposal?  What do you think of it?

Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC, LLLL  Ithaca, NY