Abstract: Background: Bacterial vaginosis is one of the most common presentation of women in their reproductive age group. Its prevalence is relatively high in the obstetric population which is mostly responsible for preterm delivery.
Objective: To study association of preterm labour with bacterial vaginosis.
Materials and Methods: This was a cross sectional study of 114 pregnant women attending department of obstetrics and gynaecology for a period of 6 months at Maharajahs Institute of Medical Sciences, Nellimarla, Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh.
Each woman after relevant history, investigations and examinations were studied for the presence of bacterial vaginosis (BV) based on Amsel’s criteria and followed up for birth weight of the neonates, neonatal admission in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), neonatal complications and postpartum complications.
Results: The mean maternal age and gestational age were 24.01±3.426 years and 31.658±1.709 weeks respectively. The proportion of patients who were diagnosed to have bacterial vaginosis according to Amsel’s criteria was 28.9%. Out of 81 BV negative women, there were 14 (17.2%) preterm deliveries compared to 67 (82.7%) term deliveries. However, out of 33 BV positive women, there were 26 (78.78%) preterm deliveries and 7 (2.21%) term deliveries. Highly significant with p value <0.00001. In the study, 84.8% of neonates born to BV positive mothers had low birth weight as compared to 65.4% of neonates born to BV negative mothers. NICU admission in BV positive patients was 48.48% as compared to 38.2%% in BV negative patient. However, 30.3% of neonates born to BV positive mothers had neonatal complications as compared to 16.04% of neonates born to BV negative mothers. Similarly, 42.42% of patients who were BV positive had postpartum complications as compared to 18.5% of patients who were BV negative.
Conclusion: The association of bacterial vaginosis with preterm labour is quite frequent and it can be suggested that all symptomatic cases and those having risk factors for preterm labour should be screened for bacterial vaginosis.