Breastfeeding Exclusively for more than Four Months Lowers Risk of Mother-to Child HIV Transmission

Extended and exclusive breast-feeding can lower the risk of mother-to-child HIV transmission, a new study says.

The findings contradict the concern that surrounds breast-feeding and the transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) for a long time. Until date, breast-feeding has been thought to be the main medium that plays an important role in the transmission of the virus from an infected mother to her baby. So many health experts, including those from the UNICEF, recommend HIV-positive mothers to stop breast-feeding early to decrease risks of HIV transmission through breast milk.

Nearly 1000 HIV-positive mothers and their infants based in Zambia participated in the current study. A team of researchers from Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health monitored the breast-feeding habits of the mothers for two years.

Of the total participants, some were instructed to wean their babies early, i.e., before completing four months and some after four months of age. HIV-1 concentrations in milk were alarmingly high among mothers who stopped breast-feeding early compared to those who extended breast-feeding longer, particularly exclusive breast-feeding.

"This may explain the reduced risk of HIV-1 transmission associated with exclusive breast-feeding and why early weaning does not achieve the magnitude of HIV prevention predicted by models," the authors wrote. "Our results support continuation of maternal antiretroviral drug interventions over the full duration of time when any breast milk exposures may occur after planned weaning."

The study supports guidelines issued by experts from the World Health Organization (WHO). They recommend all mothers, including those infected with HIV, to exclusively breast-feed their babies until the sixth month after birth.

Findings of the study have been published in Science Translational Medicine.

A previous study published in the August 2012 edition of American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that certain bioactive components in the human milk effective in lowered the risk of mother-to-child HIV transmission through breast-feeding.