Introduction: Preterm delivery is one of the major causes of perinatal mortality in India (26/1000 live birth). Bacterial vaginosisis said to be implicated as one of the causes of preterm labour.

Objective: To find out the association of bacterial vaginosis (BV) and preterm labour detected at 16-20 weeks and at 28-32 weeks of gestation.

Material and Method:  Out of 810 pregnant women enrolled in the study in first trimester, 92 were excluded due to high risk factor for preterm labour. In the remaining 718 pregnant women, cotton wool swab was taken from posterior fornix and BV was detected. Diagnosis of BV was made by Neugent’s scoring system at 16-20 weeks and again at 28-32 weeks of gestation by Bellard score.

Result: The prevalence rate ofBV was 4.87% (35/718) at 16-28 weeks and 3.88% (27/670) at 28-32 weeks of gestation. The rate of preterm delivery among pregnant women with BV at 16-28 weeks was highest (19.75%, OR 1.9, CI 0.5-4.7) in comparison to BV detected at28-32 weeks (15.38%.OR 1.4, CI 0.4-39).

Conclusion: Bacterial Vaginosis at 16-28 weeks is an independent risk factor for preterm labour (OR 1.9, 95%, CI 0.5-4.7).

Keywords: Pre-term labour, Bacterial vaginosis, Trans-vaginal Ultrasound.

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Shivi Jain

Asst. Professor, Dept. of Radiodiagnosis and Imaging, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu

University Varanasi-221005, India