Bacterial vaginosis and prematurity in Indonesia: association in early and late pregnancy.

Abstract

Our objective was to examine the association between preterm delivery and bacterial vaginosis in early and late pregnancy. We evaluated 490 pregnant women at three hospitals in Jakarta, Indonesia, for bacterial vaginosis at 16 to 20 weeks' and 28 to 32 weeks' gestation and observed them through delivery. We found significant associations between preterm delivery (gestational age < 37 weeks) and bacterial vaginosis diagnosed at 16 to 20 weeks' gestation (odds ratio 2.0, 95% confidence interval 1.0 to 3.9) but not with bacterial vaginosis diagnosed at 28 to 32 weeks' gestation (odds ratio 1.5, 95% confidence interval 0.7 to 3.0). The rates of preterm delivery were almost doubled for women who had bacterial vaginosis in early pregnancy (20.5%) as compared with women who had bacterial vaginosis only in late pregnancy (10.7%). Only bacterial vaginosis diagnosed early in the second trimester of pregnancy plays a major role as a risk factor for preterm delivery.