Study of vaginal microbiome in women admitted for delivery to a tertiary care hospital

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background: The adverse outcome of pregnancy either on the mother or fetus remains to be still high despite improvements in healthcare services. This is due to various factors including medical, environmental or socio-economic factors. Vaginal microbiome is the micro organism which colonizes the vagina and plays an important role in health and disease state of women. The microbiome starts to develop from uterus and is further influenced by various factors like timing of birth, environmental exposures, diet, inflammatory immune responses, clinical infection, sexual and hygiene practices. Bacterial vaginosis, a condition where normal vagina flora is replaced by anaerobic bacteria. is present in about 20% of pregnant women and majority of them are asymptomatic. It is associated with premature rupture of membranes, preterm delivery, chorioamnionitis and intra uterine death. It also leads to adverse neonatal outcomes like assisted ventilation or respiratory distress at birth, neonatal Intensive care unit admission, fetal and infant mortality, neonatal sepsis, chronic lung disease and delayed development. Objective of the study: To study the vaginal microbiome in women admitted for delivery beyond 28 weeks of gestational age and its outcome on mother and immediate newborn.