Neonatal Nurse Practitioner Practice Exam

Disable ads (and more) with a membership for a one time $2.99 payment

Prepare for the Neonatal Nurse Practitioner Exam with engaging flashcards and multiple-choice questions. Each question offers hints and detailed explanations. Excel in your exam readiness!

Each practice test/flash card set has 50 randomly selected questions from a bank of over 500. You'll get a new set of questions each time!

Practice this question and more.

What is the primary route for postnatal transmission of HIV to neonates?

Blood exposure
Breastfeeding
Vertical transmission during birth
Premastication

The correct answer is: Breastfeeding

The primary route for postnatal transmission of HIV to neonates is breastfeeding. This transmission occurs through the breast milk of an HIV-positive mother. The World Health Organization emphasizes that while breastfeeding can offer numerous health benefits to the infant, mothers with HIV who are not on antiretroviral therapy or who have a high viral load carry the risk of transmitting the virus to their child during breastfeeding. Other potential routes of transmission exist; however, vertical transmission during birth primarily pertains to transmission that occurs during labor and delivery, rather than postnatally. Blood exposure could happen through various means, but it is not a significant postnatal transmission route compared to breastfeeding. Premastication, which involves the mother chewing food before giving it to the infant, is an unusual and minimal risk route that has not been shown to be a major pathway for HIV transmission. Thus, breastfeeding stands out as the most critical and documented method of postnatal transmission of HIV to neonates.