Pregnancy Planning with HIV –WCRI research scientist Dr. Mona Loutfy works with a cross-Canada team to develop HIV pregnancy planning guidelines.MORE (links to text below on the WCH News page:

Pregnancy Planning with HIV

Sixty-eight thousandCanadians are infected with HIV. Twenty per cent of them are women. And the numbers are only going up.

Even more worrisome, 80 per cent of women infected with HIV are in their childbearing years.

But according to Dr. Mona Loutfy,Research Scientist at the Women’s College Research Institute, “being infected with HIV shouldn’t stop women from planning to get pregnant and having families. With our support and proper planning, these women can lead healthy, productive lives and have healthy families.”

Dr. Loutfy and her team at WCH, along with a multi-disciplinary group of fertility experts, HIV specialists, psychologists, social workers, councillors, nurses, community members affected by HIV/AIDS and other interested parties from across Canada, are creating national guidelines to make it easier for individuals with HIV to get the support they need to have safe and healthy pregnancies.

For the first time, members will be meeting face-to-face to officially review the national guidelines and make decisions collaboratively. The meeting is affiliated with the 18th Annual Canadian Conference on HIV/AIDS Research (CAHR) being held at the end of April in Vancouver.

“We hope this meeting will lead to the completion of our guidelines,” added Dr. Loutfy who is on the organizing committee for the conference. “But even more importantly, we hope that by gettingour stakeholders in-person,we willstartan ongoing collaborative approach with a diverse and insightful group of Canadians committed to furthering research, care and treatment in the area of HIV/AIDS.”

The CAHRConference aims to share new research outcomes, acknowledge achievements and discuss the wider issues related to HIV/AIDS including new drugs, aging, mental health and HIV, and the impacts of government policy.

“It provides a unique and intimate opportunity for those of us working in the field of HIV/AIDS to make important inroads both in Canada and internationally,” said Dr. Mark Tyndall, Conference Chair.

Half a dozen WCH and WCRI employees will be attending the conference to help finalize the national HIV pregnancy guidelines and learn about advances in HIV prevention, care and treatment.

For more information about the CAHR conference, please visit