Introduction:Antiretroviral therapy (ART) is a right offered by the SUS to all HIV-positive pregnant women, making it efficient in preventing vertical transmission. Objective: search in the literature how the use of therapy can impact the health of the pregnant woman and her unborn child, what are the measures adopted in the country to prevent vertical transmission. Methodology: This is a descriptive study, with retrospective data collection, through a narrative review, through articles and publications found in the SCIELO, LILACS, PubMed, MEDLINE database, institutional publications from the Ministry of Health and articles from Brazilian Society of Infectious Diseases with a temporal scope from 2011 to 2021. Final considerations: It is well known that every drug, regardless of its origin, whether allopathic or herbal, brings adverse reactions to the body. Likewise, antiretrovirals prescribed for the therapy of HIV-positive women during pregnancy can cause undesirable reactions. However, the benefits of ART indisputably outweigh all the side effects arising from antiretrovirals and to date there is no other effective and safe way to prevent the transmission of HIV from mother to child.