OBJECTIVES: to evaluate perinatal complications in pregnant women infected by HIV. METHODS: this was a hospital-based cohort study of consecutive births at a tertiary perinatal center from January 1, 1996 to March 31, 2003. A total of 7698 pregnancies met the inclusion criteria which were singleton pregnancies with minimal gestational age 22 weeks. HIV infection was confirmed by the tests ELISA and Western Blot. We studied premature rupture of membrane (PROM), premature birth, very-low birth weight, puerperal infection and the newborn condition at birth (Apgar score in the first and fifth minute), intra-uterine grow restriction (IUGR) and low for gestational age (LGA). RESULTS: 228 (2.96%) of the pregnant women were infected by HIV. HIV infection was nor a risk factor for PROM (RR = 0.48, p <0.01) or for premature birth (RR = 0.92, p <0.01). There was no statistical association between HIV infection and: very-low birth weight (birth weight below 1500 g) (RR = 0.00, p = 0.31), low Agar score (below seven) at the first minute (RR = 0.81, p = 0.40) and fifth minute (RR = 0.36, p = 0.19). We observed that HIV infection was a risk factor for IUGR (RR = 5.27, p <0.01) and LGA (RR = 1.73, p <0.01). CONCLUSIONS: we did not observe adverse perinatal outcome in HIV infected pregnant women except IUGR and LGA.
HIV; Pregnancy complications; Perinatal care
