This is a special time, one filled with excitement and wonder. We know that by 20 weeks of pregnancy, you have thought about your new baby at least a hundred times and have asked many serious questions regarding the health of your new arrival.

We would like to inform you that, by 20 weeks' gestation, your doctor should have offered you an HIV test. We hope that you have already had it done. Knowing your HIV status before delivery could mean all the difference in the world to your precious newborn.

Did you know that all babies are tested for the HIV virus immediately after delivery, whether mom has been tested or not? More importantly, you should know that there has been a recent change in the New York State law that went into effect in July 1999. If mom has not been tested for HIV during the pregnancy, she must be offered the test when admitted in labor. If she refuses at that time, the HIV test will be performed on blood taken from the newborn. The results of this test must be produced within 24 hours. This test is called rapid testing.

Why is this test mandated? Because now there is treatment that could significantly reduce the risk of transmitting the HIV virus to your baby if you are HIV positive.

If you have not already been tested during this pregnancy, we ask you to consider the benefits of doing so:

• If you are found HIV positive, you will be referred to a specialist for treatment options that could significantly reduce the risk of transmission of the HIV virus to your baby and could improve your own health.
• If you know in advance that you are HIV positive, you will be referred to a pediatric specialist who will recommend treatment before and after delivery that may prevent your baby from getting HIV.
• If you have not been HIV tested or have refused testing prior to delivery, you will be asked to test during labor.
• If you refuse during labor, blood will be drawn from your baby that will be HIV tested.
• The HIV test done at the time of delivery is called rapid testing. There is a chance that rapid testing can produce falsely positive results (at least 30% of the time) and your baby may be given HIV treatment unnecessarily until we know for sure that the test is negative.

All information is confidential.

We wish your birth experience to be as wonderful as it should be. We also want you and your baby to be healthy. Please, if you have not been tested for HIV during this pregnancy, inform your doctor that you have decided to be tested. Your doctor will make the arrangements for the test to be drawn.