Contrary to the view of many healthcare providers, women had a positive attitude towards being offered HIV testing in pregnancy and the offer did not create undue anxiety or dissatisfaction, nor was it inappropriately time-consuming. Moreover, the type and extent of information given to pregnant women about HIV testing affected their knowledge but not whether they took the test.
These findings indicate that the length or style of presentation to pregnant women is immaterial, although it is important that the benefits of testing for the baby are stressed. Instead, the focus of research and policy-making should be on the midwives, as their attitudes are likely to be more important in determining uptake.
Uptake rates were much lower than those reported in other European countries, and among those offered an HIV test only one of the two previously unknown HIV-positive women agreed to be tested. So, although women find the test offer acceptable, it seems that this approach to offering the test, in which women are given information and then asked whether or not they want the test, is not an effective way of achieving high uptake and detection rates.