HIV and AIDS in Mothers and Babies:A Guide to Counselling

As HIV moves into the heterosexual population the threat to mothers and babies has become acute. One in three of those infected with HIV are women and the majority of those are in their childbearing years. If HIV is vertically transmitted, both mother and child are affected - in many cases, fathers and siblings are also ill and the family group may require an unprecedented level of care. This book is aimed at counsellors working in HIV, drug use or family planning, and health care professionals involved in pregnancy. It deals with pre- and post-test counselling, the choice whether or not to terminate the pregnancy and whether to desist from subsequent pregnancies, the prospect of dealing with an ill baby in the presence of a potentially ill mother and father, and the special problems of children, home life and parenting.