As part of an overall tightening of state regulations and health rules, Acting New Jersey Governor Richard Cody signed into law a new regulation that mandates doctors to test women who are pregnant for the HIV infection. Women who are steadfast against having the test can still choose not to, but are urged not to.
All Newborns, beginning in 2008 will be required to be tested if the status of the mothers HIV infection is not know, or if they test positive for HIV infection. New mothers and other women will get information from state and local health care doctors and professionals. The new information will cover the benefits of testing, how to protect the unborn child if the mother is infected, and other basics of HIV prevention and testing.
The brand new law in New Jersey, Bill A4218, and the blood test for HIV will occur during the first three months, and the last trimester of the pregnancy. The state of New Jersey is the first in the United States to require and implement such a law that covers both newborns and mothers to be.
Governor Corzine is currently on vacation, and while he is away Richard Codey is Acting Governor for the State of New Jersey. Codey stated that the new bill and regulations “will greatly reduce the overall incidence of transmission of the AIDS virus between the mother and the unborn child.” The statistics obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention state that the incidence of transmission between an infected Mother and Child could be very low, down as far as two percent if precautions are followed.
These precautions include receiving early testing, taking medication after the HIV virus has been detected, giving birth using C- Section delivery, and not breast feeding the non infected baby.