Programs HIV Rapid Testing in Labor & Delivery
January 2012
California Labor and Delivery medical care providers:
The HIV Rapid Testing in Labor and Delivery Project in California was funded for five years to help hospitals in California implement rapid HIV testing in Labor and Delivery units throughout the state. While the Project ended 12/31/11, this website continues to house important perinatal HIV information. If you need more information about this project or perinatal HIV resources, please contact Amanda Newstetter, MSW at the San Francisco AIDS Education and Training Center (Amanda.Newstetter@ucsf.edu ) or Kama Brockmann, PhD, LCSW at the California State Office of AIDS. (Kama.Brockmann@cdph.ca.gov). The National Perinatal HIV Hotline (888-448-8765) is available 24/7 to clinicians with questions about HIV & pregnancy. Thank you for your interest in preventing Perinatal HIV transmission.
RTLD Resources and Reference Manual
Overview
Since 1994, perinatal transmission of HIV has been greatly reduced among HIV-positive women through therapies given to birthing mothers before and during delivery, and to infants after birth. The U.S. Public Health Service, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the American Academy of Pediatrics all recommend HIV testing for pregnant women. Although great strides have been made in identifying and testing HIV-infected women, those who have not received prenatal care and were not offered HIV counseling and testing are one of the groups still at high risk for transmitting HIV to their infants. Women in California continue to present to L&D units with undocumented HIV status, putting the health of the laboring woman and her child at unnecessary risk.
