Provision In Texas Law Requires HIV Testing For Pregnant Women

Main Category: HIV / AIDS
Also Included In: Pregnancy / Obstetrics
Article Date: 22 Jan 2010 - 2:00 PDT

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Texas health care providers are now required to test pregnant women for HIV at some point during the last three months of pregnancy under a new law (HB 1795) that took effect on Jan. 1, the Austin American-Statesman reports. Prior to the provision, Texas required health providers to test pregnant women for HIV during their first prenatal visit and at the time of delivery. The new provision mandates that women who test positive for HIV be given immediate access to antiretroviral drugs, which can reduce the chances of transmitting the virus to the infant. At birth, the infant would also start receiving treatment, which would continue for six weeks. The provision also requires health care providers to provide women with information about the risks of transmitting the virus to the infant.

If a woman goes to the hospital or birthing center for delivery without a record of HIV testing, the new law requires that the medical center test her for the virus and gather results within six hours. Women can object to the testing, refuse treatment and receive information about being tested anonymously. The cost of testing is expected to be covered by private insurers or the state's Medicaid program, Department of State Health Services spokesperson Allison Lowery said.

According to the American-Statesman, treating HIV-positive women during pregnancy can reduce the risk of mother-to-child transmission to around 1%. Experts say that women with higher levels of the virus in their blood are believed to have an increased risk of transmitting the virus to their infants. More often, transmission is thought to occur just before or during delivery because of exposure to the mother's blood. Women can reduce the risk of transmission by delivering via caesarean section.

According to data from DSHS, one in four women with HIV will transmit the virus to her infant if treatment is not received. Judy Levison, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Baylor College of Medicine, said that the number of women in the U.S. who transmit HIV to infants is an estimated to be 100 to 200 annually. She said that she hopes the law can reduce that number to almost zero, adding, "No woman should deliver without knowing her HIV status" (Roser, Austin American-Statesman, 1/19).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

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