A 23-year-old woman, who contracted HIV at a government hospital in Sattur, Virudhunagar district after undergoing blood transfusion, delivered a baby girl in Madurai on Thursday.

The woman, who delivered during her 38th week of pregnancy, is healthy and had a normal delivery, said S. Shanmugasundaram, Dean (in-charge), Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH). “This is a term pregnancy and both the mother and the baby are fine. The mother delivered the child at around 7 p.m. The child is currently being treated at the Newborn Intensive Care Unit” he said.

Dr. Shanmugasundaram told the media that a Polymerised Chain Reaction test and a blood test to detect traces of HIV on the child’s blood will be conducted. He added that the mother was receiving antiviral medication.

The Dean In-charge said that the child weighed only 1.75 kg. A healthy baby weighs between 2.5 kg and 3.5 kg at birth. “The child could be underweight due to many factors. Either the baby could be anaemic or the mother may have been depressed during the time of the pregnancy,” he said.

Formula feed

The child will be given formula feed as breast milk will be avoided to prevent the risk of the child contracting HIV, he said.

In late December, doctors discovered that a 19-year-old blood donor’s infected blood was transfused to the 23-year-old woman at Sattur. The 19-year-old later attempted suicide, realising the impact of his unintended action, and was admitted to hospital. He died on December 30, 2018.