ASSOCIATION OF BACTERIAL VAGINOSIS WITH PRETERM LABOUR

OBJECTIVES: To study the prevalence of bacterial vaginosis (BV) in preterm labour and to investigate its association as one of the causative factors of preterm labour.MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty women who presented with preterm labour (study group) and fifty women in labour at term (control group) admitted to a teaching hospital from November 2009 to May 2011 were examined for bacterial vaginosis using Nugent score.All the statistical methods were carried out through SPSS for windows (version 16.0), STUDY DESIGN: A comparative study.RESULTS: The prevalence of bacterial vaginosis among preterm labour group was 22% and its prevalence among full term group was 4%.There was statistically significant association of BV with preterm labor when compared to term labor (p=.007).Bacterial Vaginosis was strongly associated with very preterm delivery (<34 weeks) (p=.050).Bacterial vaginosis was significantly associated with lesser gestational age at delivery and low birth weight.CONCLUSION: Bacterial vaginosis is significantly associated with preterm labour and is one of the probable causative factors of preterm labour.