Section 699.100  Perinatal Counseling and Testing

a)         Every health care professional who provides health care services to a pregnant woman shall provide the woman with HIV counseling and offer HIV testing as early in the pregnancy as possible, unless she has already received an HIV test during the current pregnancy. (Section 10(a) of the Act)

b)         For women at continued risk of exposure to HIV infection, a repeat test should

be offered late in pregnancy. (Section 10(a) of the Act)

c)         HIV counseling and offer of testing shall be documented in the woman's medical record. (Section 10(b) of the Act)  Any testing or test results shall be conducted and documented in accordance with the AIDS Confidentiality Act and the HIV/AIDS Confidentiality and Testing Code.

d)         All HIV counseling shall include, at minimum:

1)         The benefits of HIV testing for the pregnant woman, including the prevention of transmission;

2)         The benefit of HIV testing for the newborn infant, including interventions to prevent HIV transmission;

3)         The side effects of interventions to prevent HIV transmission;

4)         The statutory confidentiality provisions that relate to HIV and AIDS testing;

5)          The voluntary nature of the testing, including the opportunity to refuse testing of a newborn infant in writing; (Section 10 of the Act)

6)         Information about HIV infection and HIV transmission;

7)         Information about the meaning of the test and test results, such as: the purpose, potential uses, and limitations of the test, rapid HIV test, rapid HIV test results and the need for confirmatory testing;

8)         Methods of preventing HIV transmission; and

9)         Information about the availability of referrals for further information or counseling (Section 5 of the AIDS Confidentiality Act).

e)         HIV testing shall be provided with the woman's written informed consent. "Written informed consent" means an agreement in writing executed by the subject of a test or the subject's legally authorized representative without undue inducement or any element of force, fraud, deceit, duress or other form of constraint or coercion, which entails at least the following:

1)         A fair explanation of the test, including its purpose, potential uses and

limitations and the meaning of its results;

2)         A fair explanation of the procedures to be followed, including the voluntary nature of the test; the right to withdraw consent at any time; the right to anonymity to the extent provided by the AIDS Confidentiality Act with respect to participation in the test and disclosure of test results and the right to confidential treatment of information identifying the subject of the test and the results of the test, to the extent provided by law. (Section 3(d) of the AIDS Confidentiality Act)