I'm pregnant and the first 14-20 days I was taking Sustiva. I've stopped taking Sustiva, bur I'm terribly scared thet my baby can have deformations or health problems because of the 2-3 weeks Sustiva. Could someone tell me which are the experiences and posibilities? Thank you very much, I would really appreciate it, if some doctor answers me.

Anxiety about the safety of your baby is understandable. While a study using Sustiva found that a higher percentage of monkeys who were given the medication had babies with birth defects than those who did not take the medicine, by far the majority of the monkey babies exposed to Sustiva did not have birth defects. Remember that when 15% have a problem, 85% do not!

I do not believe anyone can tell you that your baby will or will not have a defect due to the medication. It is important to have close follow-up with your doctor during the pregnancy and to do all that you can to minimize any other risks to your baby (such as smoking, drug use, alcohol use, etc.)

The manufacturer of Sustiva (Bristol-Myers Squibb) can provide your doctor with the most recent data and you might also look at the info on www.apregistry.com which is a registry for reporting problems thought to be associated with antiretroviral medicines like Sustiva.