The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has updated its 1996 guidelines for HIV screening, now recommending that all pregnant women be tested.

The move is a preventive measure to ensure HIV-infected pregnant women can start HAART treatment and thereby reduce the risk of vertical transmission of infection to their infants. They can also be advised to avoid breastfeeding, which is known to increase the risk of transmission

Early testing has proven so successful at helping prevent the spread of AIDS in babies, that a federal panel is recommending that all pregnant women, not just those at high risk, be screened for the virus.

In 1996, the U.S. Preventine Services Task Force said there was not enough evidence to prove that screening all pregnant women was beneficial

Doctors are encouraging mothers of premature babies to breast feed, citing breast milk is the perfect food for them, especially those born weighing under 3 1/2 pounds.

Many mothers of premature babies are scared to breast-feed, given the child's delicate condition, but doctors are trying to change this with strategies ranging from free breast pumps to implementing breast-feeding "peer counselors" into intensive care units to train new mothers how to nurse