Vaginitis in pregnancy is related to adverse perinatal outcome

OBJECTIVE To determine whether education level and occupation are risk factors of vaginitis in pregnant women and to investigate relationship between vaginitis occurrence during pregnancy and perinatal mortality rates. METHODS A total of 319 women of early pregnancy or mid-pregnancy were enrolled. Six specimens were collected from posterior fornix of each pregnant woman and then cultured for identification of Neisseria gonorrhoeae, intestinal bacteria, general bacteria, fungi, mycoplasma, and chlamydia, respectively. RESULTS The pregnant women in the "elementary school or below" group and the "middle school" group had significantly higher incidences of vaginitis compared with the pregnant women in the groups of "high school", "skill education", and "college or above". The pregnant women in the groups of "Worker", "Government employee", "Company employee", and "Professionals" had significantly lower vaginitis incidences. The women with infections of Neisseria gonorrhoeae, intestinal bacteria, and general bacteria had higher perinatal mortalities (0.063 ± 0.011, 0.052 ± 0.012, and 0.017 ± 0.008, respectively) than women with infections of fungi, mycoplasma, and Chlamydia (0.002 ± 0.007, 0.003 ± 0.004, and 0.001 ± 0.001, respectively). CONCLUSIONS Education level and occupation are risk factors related to incidences of vaginitis in pregnant women. The bacteria-related vaginitis is a major reason of perinatal mortality.