Hi Jeanette, I knew there was a reason <g> I saved the following article from FAMILY PLANNING PERSPECTIVES, a publication of "The Alan Guttmacher Institute." This publication reviews current research concerning family planning and STD's. I'm sure they wouldn't mind my sharing this update from the Nov/Dec. 1995 issue: HOW MANY CHILDREN WITH HIV? Nearly 15,000 US children were born infected with HIV between 1978 and 1993, according to recent estimates, and by 1994 about one in five of these children had already died of AIDS.(1) Investigators with the CDC used national survey data, AIDS surveillance data and information from a multicenter pediatric HIV research project to produce the estimates. Their analysis suggests that 14,920 infants have been born infected with HIV since the epidemic began, and that about 12,240 were still alive as of the start of 1994. Thus, about 2,700 infants and children have died of AIDS; a smilar number are thought to have progressed to AIDS but have not yet died. The researchers estimate that nearly 40% of those born infected with HIV are now 5 years of age or older. They also project that if all HIV-infected US women knew they were infected and could be treated with zidovudine, about two-thirds of HIV infections in newborns could be prevented each year. (1) S.F. Davis et al., "Prevalence and Incidence of Vertically Acquired HIV Infection in the US," JAMA 247:952-955, 1995. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Jeanette, the article you quoted is almost identical to "Sacrificing Babies on the Alter of Privacy" which was published 8/3/95 by the WSJ. It begins with "Some 7000 babies are born each year in America to HIV-infected women, and about 2,000 of the infants test positive for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Fortunately, nearly 3/4 of these are phony positives, because the babies have their mother's antibodies, but not HIV itself. Yet these babies are at terrible risk because they are very likely to get the virus through breast feeding - mother's milk is a prime carrier of HIV." The article continues much in the same vein as yours including the spotlight on legislation introduced to require mandatory HIV testing for pregnant women and newborns. Clearly the articles are sensational editorials designed to shock the public into supporting that kind of legislation. As a public health nurse who's worked with indigent pregnant women for a long time, I can offer the following comments as a reality check: 1. Women most likely to be HIV + are drug abusers. They are the least likely to get prenatal care and certainly the least likely to breastfed. 2. If they do initiate prenatal care, they are tested for HIV as part of their intital work-up and are certainly informed of the results. Whether or not they comply with therapy is up to them. They tend to be transient and unreliable. Denial is common and understandable. Enough said! Keep those Lactnet T-shirt requests coming... Warm wishes to all, Diana http://www.prairienet.org/community/health/laleche/diana.html