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.