Pregnancy care
The links between antenatal care and HIV prevention
and care should start from women’s own
perspectives and the local context. Most pregnant
women who seek antenatal care worldwide
are not aware of their HIV serostatus. In addition,
pregnant women from different socio-cultural
contexts experience intense inequalities in access
to health care services and to information regarding
the benefit of antenatal care for themselves
and their babies. Illiteracy or little schooling,
young age, position in the family and economic
dependence upon others, limited mobility due
to poverty, religious or cultural restrictions or
being a member of a marginalised population
group represent major barriers to accessing antenatal
care.