Dear Cathy- I had a very similar experience to yours - mom of an 8 month old calling hysterically in the midle of the night to get a breast pump because she had just learned her partner had had unprotected sex with someone else. Problem is, as I understand it - that a test would not be conclusive at this point in the disease, as she would not yet have seroconverted. Also, as I understand from a Susan Browne, MD speaking at the LLL conference several years ago, women who do not yet test positive are at the greatest risk of passing HIV on, because the virus is at high levels in the first months after infection. According to her, this stage and the one shortly before death when the body is overcome by virus are the most dangerous. So, it would seem that it's the moms who test negative, but engage in high risk behaviors who put their BF babies (or fetuses) at the greatest risk. Am I right on this? But how do we assimilate this info into our counseling? Does this mean that if we learn dad has had an affair during the pregnancy we should bring up HIV issues and the possibility of not BF? The more I learn, the more questions I have... Ro K. Andersen, IBCLC, LLLL Winchester, Massachusetts, USA Ro [log in to unmask]