 
February 3, 2009
S. Dakota Doctors Advised to Test All Pregnant Women for HIV
South Dakota state health officials are recommending that all expectant mothers should be tested for HIV to prevent babies from being born with the virus, the Argus Leader reports.
According to the article, the recommendation comes after two babies born in the state tested positive for the virus. They were among South Dakota’s 34 new cases of HIV/AIDS in 2008.
The state health department urges physicians to routinely test pregnant women because a drug regimen can help prevent positive mothers from infecting their babies. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has also released a campaign titled One Test, Two Lives, which encourages HIV testing as part of standard care.
“If we identify that a woman is HIV positive, treating her during her pregnancy…is so successful you can pretty much say that child will be born without HIV,” said Dan Heinemann, MD, the chief medical officer at Sanford Health Systems in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. As of last year, Sanford’s policy has been to test all pregnant women unless they opt out.
Search: South Dakota, pregnancy, mother-to-child
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