Stopping treatment after pregnancy

Where a woman does not yet require HIV treatment for her own health, a short-term combination of drugs can be prescribed during pregnancy to reduce transmission risk, without compromising her own future treatment options.

However, if nevirapine (Viramune) or efavirenz (Sustiva) have been used in her treatment, stopping their use will need to be carefully planned to allow for their long half-lives (the half-life of a drug is the period for which it is active) to avoid inadvertent NNRTI monotherapy and the chance that resistance will develop.

This content was checked for accuracy at the time it was written. It may have been superseded by more recent developments. NAM recommends checking whether this is the most current information when making decisions that may affect your health.