Prevalence of Lower Genital Tract Infections in Pregnancy

A descriptive profile of 106 pregnant women with various forms of cervicitis and vaginitis is provided. Fifty women attending individual physicians' private offices are compared with 56 clinic patients: 34 attending a university prenatal teaching clinic and 22 attending a pregnancy termination unit. Univariate analysis showed that single women were significantly more likely to be infected by mycoplasmas, yeasts, trichomonads, and Gardnerella vaginalis than were married women. Teenagers were more frequently infected by Mycoplasma hominis, yeasts, and Trichomonas vaginalis than were women older than 20 years. After stepwise logistic regression analysis, the most significant predictor of infection with M. hominis, Ureaplasma urealyticum, or yeasts was being a clinic patient; for G. vaginalis, the most significant variable was being unmarried. These data suggest that teenaged and single women who are pregnant will benefit most from routine screening for vaginitis/cervicitis-producing microorganisms.