How faster test results are helping HIV-positive moms and their newborns in Sask.

When Crystal Kaye gave birth, she knew she had HIV, but she didn't know what to expect. I gave natural birth to my kids, right? And there's blood involved, too, and so that's what kind of made me scared for me to pass it on to them. Kaye had trouble accessing prenatal care. She couldn't get tested for one important metric, her HIV viral load. It shows how much of the virus is present in a person's body. When she finally tested for it at the hospital, she says it took multiple days. I was nervous and scared, because I don't want to hear nothing bad, because I already have HIV, so I don't want to hear that my kids have it. Health care workers have been quietly working to change this. The sample is now prepared and pulled into the reaction tube. The Cepheid GeneXpert test takes only about two hours. The early screen provides information to give the best treatment options to the mom and newborn, before a normal test confirms it. They're women that are in labor. They arrive at the hospital without any kind of seeing a doctor beforehand. And so we don't know their HIV status. And we're using this test to kind of detect the presence of the virus in the mothers who are delivering. Staff with even minimal training can perform the test. It's already in use in Regina, Saskatoon, and Melfort, but it will be especially useful in rural and remote areas where it's being rolled out now. It's something that is being used in the province as a screen, and it enables the test to be run closer to the patient instead of being sent to a reference laboratory. So it's basically distributing the testing across the province. The manufacturer says Saskatchewan health care workers were the first in Canada to use the test in a widespread way. They're also one of the first in the world to use it to help treat newborns based on data from mothers. But still, wider issues around HIV care remain. I think what makes women reluctant to engage in health care is actually not the HIV itself. The HIV is really easy to manage. I think it more has to do with the stigma associated with having HIV. But Crystal Kay hopes the test means other mothers won't have to go through what she did. Yeah, that's better, yeah. Better than waiting for days and days. Maeve Ellis, CBC News, Saskatoon.