Immune status during pregnancy

[Annie_777]

Hi, I'm 36, not pregnant yet, but will likely be pregnant very soon.  My blood test in May showed lymphocytopenia (abs count 800cells/mm3).  In the follow-up test in August, my lymphocyte count dropped to 710 with a CD4 count of 337.  While I'm HIV negative, I heard that CD4 count <350 indicates weakened immune system, and <200 is diagnosed as AIDS regardless of HIV status.  I also heard that pregnancy will suppress immune system, which makes me wonder whether pregnancy is safe for me and the baby.

Even though I'm in remission, I'm still under cancer surveillance.  There is a pre-cancerous cervical lesion and a few small undetermined lung nodule that are being monitored.  So maintaining a decent level of immune function is quite important to me.

On the other hand, no one gives me an explanation about what happened to my immune system and why my lymphocyte count keeps dropping over the past year.  So I feel like I might be bettered off to get pregnant now than later esp if I don't anticipate this immune issue to get any better anytime soon.

I wonder if any gals here have experience in dealing with depressed immune system during pregnancy, and have tips or advice to share.  Thanks!

[Annie_777]

That is very interesting!  I've never heard of anyone with AIDS getting pregnant.  People seem to think once CD4 is lower than 200, the chance to get back to normal (>500) count is very slim.  That is pretty awesome that pregnancy helped her.

[JessMurr]

During a sexual health course last semester we had a speaker come in and talk to us. She has aids and I remember her saying how her immune system got better after her first child, so they had another.