Within the context of the historic development of drugs to treat HIV infection, there is perhaps no subject that has created more controversy than the use of these agents to interrupt the mother‐to‐child transmission (MTCT) of HIV‐1. No one now takes issue with the fact that the AIDS Clinical Trials Group Protocol 076—in which zidovudine (ZDV), given to the mother pre‐ and intrapartum and to the infant for the first 6 weeks of life, reduced MTCT of HIV‐1 by 70%—has been one of the most noteworthy advances in treatment of the past 20 years [1]. However, the development phase of that protocol was fraught with intense debate, particularly with respect to the ethics of the trial. The reduction in MTCT of HIV‐1 from 25% to 8% immediately led to changes in public health policy in the developed world and, with the subsequent application of potent combinations of antiretroviral drugs for the mother and judicious use of caesarean section, neonatal HIV‐1 infection is now a rare event in resource‐unconstrained settings.