What treatment should be given to a patient during labor and delivery?

The Illinois Perinatal HIV Hotline recommends intravenous AZT to be given during labor and delivery (See Best Practices: Labor & Delivery Care for Pregnant People with HIV and Care of Infants with Perinatal Exposure to HIV). Ideally, this should be started at the onset of uterine contractions with a goal of completing at least a 3 hour course prior to delivery in order to achieve adequate maternal and neonatal serum levels. AZT is given as an intravenous 2mg/kg load infusion given over the first hour followed by 1mg/kg/hour intravenously until delivery. Other antiretroviral medications should be continued during labor to ensure that their normal antiretroviral regimen is uninterrupted.