">Hiv Positive | hiv-positive Mothers Advised To Wean At Six Months

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Posted Thursday, July 29 2010 at 20:08

A new study recommends that HIV-positive women practise exclusive breastfeeding for six months and then wean off abruptly.

Family support, education and cultural norms are important factors that may influence an HIV-positive mother’s decision to stop breastfeeding, it says.

The study by researchers Melissa Morgan, Rose Masaba, Mary Nyikuri and Timothy Thomas of the Kenya Medical Research Institute and Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Kisumu, says counselling and family support may play integral roles in early breastfeeding cessation.

The study, published in Aids Care, says prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission, highly active anti-retroviral therapy (Haart) is provided from 34 weeks gestation through delivery to six months postpartum.

The researchers e