Within a programme of prevention of motherto-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) conducted in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, we studied the way male partners of HIV-infected women position themselves and get involved in HIV prevention (prevention of sexual transmission and of postnatal transmission to the child). The analysis is based on in-depth repeated interviews within serodiscordant and HIV-positive seroconcordant couples. It reveals that women’s notification of their serostatus to their partner and conjugal communication around prevention recommendations favour more prevention of HIV transmission from mother-to-child than sexual prevention. Attitudes and behaviours of these men reveal their conceptions in the areas of paternity and conjugality, which influence their relationship to HIV infection.