HIV mom is charged: DISREGARDED MEDICAL CARE, BABY GOT VIRUS By JONATHAN JENKINS, TORONTO SUN
Saturday Sun * May 28 * 2005
http://torontosun.com/News/Canada/2005/05/28/pf-1060239.html

A HAMILTON mom with HIV was criminally negligent when she disregarded her prenatal medical care, resulting in her newborn baby contracting the deadly virus, police allege.

"It is a unique situation," Hamilton police Det.-Sgt. John Langhorn said yesterday. "It's the fact that she knew what to do and didn't do it and that put the child at risk.

"Had it just impacted herself, that would have been fine. But the fact is, she exposed her baby knowingly and now the baby is ill."

FIRST TIME IN CANADA

The woman, who can't be named to protect the identity of her children, is charged with criminal negligence causing bodily harm and failing to provide the necessities of life.

It's believed to be the first time in Canada a mother has been charged with passing HIV to her child.

Langhorn said the woman was HIV positive when she delivered a healthy baby in 2003, following all the medical advice doctors gave her.

That included no breastfeeding and an AZT regimen for the newborn to prevent transmitting the virus to the child.

The woman became pregnant again in March 2004 and began a similar treatment program, Langhorn said.

But sometime before her due date, she stopped seeing her doctor and went to another hospital, where police alleged she withheld her medical background.

"The hospital had no idea," Langhorn said, adding the mother breastfed the infant and the child is now infected.

Both children are now in the care of the Catholic Children's Aid Society.

"The basis of the charges relate to her activities after the baby was born," he said. "Had she disclosed her HIV status to the hospital staff, the baby would have been given treatment immediately upon birth. That was not done.

'EXPOSED TO BREAST MILK'

"And the baby was exposed to the mother's breast milk as well and that should not have happened. For those two reasons we laid the charges."

Police don't want to criminalize the woman's health status but she knew what would happen if she ignored her doctor's advice. The Public Health Agency of Canada considers perinatal -- or vertical -- transmission of HIV to be preventable with the use of the drug AZT during the second and third trimester.

"A study done from 1993 to 1999 on AZT use found a reduction in the HIV vertical transmission rate, from 28% in untreated women-infant pairs to 13% in partially treated pairs.