Although limited by
differences in the
quality of the studies included
in this review, these findings have important implications: they suggest that women
living in regions where HIV infection is common should be offered repeat HIV testing
during pregnancy and
in the postpartum period to detect incident HIV infections, and that preventing HIV transmission
during pregnancy and the postpartum period should be prioritized, for example, by counseling women about the need to use condoms to prevent transmission
during this period
of their
lives.