Some women's adherance drops dramatically after pregnancy. It's better to stop all drugs than to let motherhood and the rest of life interfere with meds. There's also the risk of transmission during breast-feeding, so discuss your concerns with your doctor. No matter what other drugs you're taking, pediatric experts recommend adding AZT to every pregnant woman's regimen. That's because both of these drugs cross the placenta and inhibit viral replication in the womb.
Doctors often know that a drug works without understanding exactly how or why.
That's certainly the case with AZT , the original weapon against HIV and perinatal transmission. As time goes on, we're getting a better picture of how AZT works. For one thing, the drug is stockpiled in the blood of the umbilical cord, building up to high concentrations that help control the virus in the blood the mother supplies to the fetus. The news isn't that surprising, since AZT belongs to a class of drugs that's designed to elbow its way inside genetic material. But the fact that the drug turned up in fetal monkey livers, lungs, hearts, and brain cells after just three hours of maternal exposure is worrisome.