Adoption of the Revised DHHS Guidelines on Breastmilk Feeding and HIV in the United States: Clinical Practices and Barriers.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-27-2025

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Understanding current clinical practices and barriers to the implementation of the updated infant feeding guidelines in perinatal HIV exposure can inform the development of interventions to improve practice in the United States (US).

METHODS: Between August and December 2024, we electronically administered a survey to actively practicing neonatologists and pediatric infectious diseases (PID) physicians in the US. We conducted a multivariate logistic regression to assess the association between physician characteristics and breastfeeding support.

RESULTS: Of 389 respondents, 21% were PID specialists, and 79% were neonatologists. More PID specialists (64%) than neonatologists (42%) (

CONCLUSIONS: In the United States, concerns for perinatal HIV transmission remain a significant barrier to breastfeeding support among both PID subspecialists and neonatologists. Accordingly, interventions to promote breastfeeding support should target persisting concerns for lactational HIV transmission.

Publication Title

Open Forum Infect Dis

Volume

12

Issue

10

First Page

607

Last Page

607

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