BACTERIAL VAGINOSIS AND PREMATURITY IN INDONESIA - ASSOCIATION IN EARLY AND LATE PREGNANCY

OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to examine the association between preterm delivery and bacterial vaginosis in early and late pregnancy. STUDY DESIGN: 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. RESULTS: 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%). CONCLUSION: Only bacterial vaginosis diagnosed early in the second trimester of pregnancy plays a major role as a risk factor for preterm delivery.