BackgroundBacterial vaginosis (BV) increases preterm delivery (PTD) risk, but treatment trials showed mixed results in preventing PTD. ObjectivesDetermine, using individual participant data (IPD), whether BV treatment during pregnancy reduced PTD or prolonged time-to-delivery. Data SourcesCochrane Systematic Review (2013), MEDLINE, EMBASE, journal searches, and searches (January 2013-September 2022) ("bacterial vaginosis AND pregnancy") of (i) ; (ii) Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials; (iii) World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform Portal; and (iv) Web of Science ("bacterial vaginosis"). Study Selection and Data ExtractionStudies randomising asymptomatic pregnant individuals with BV to antibiotics or control, measuring delivery gestation. Extraction was from original data files. Bias risk was assessed using the Cochrane tool. Analysis used "one-step" logistic and Cox random effect models, adjusting gestation at randomisation and PTD history; heterogeneity by I-2. Subgroup analysis tested interactions with treatment. In sensitivity analyses, studies not providing IPD were incorporated by "multiple random-donor hot-deck" imputation, using IPD studies as donors. ResultsThere were 121 references (96 studies) with 23 eligible trials (11,979 participants); 13 studies (6915 participants) provided IPD; 12 (6115) were incorporated. Results from 9 (4887 participants) not providing IPD were imputed. Odds ratios for PTD for metronidazole and clindamycin versus placebo were 1.00 (95% CI 0.84, 1.17), I-2 = 62%, and 0.59 (95% CI 0.42, 0.82), I-2 = 0 before; and 0.95 (95% CI 0.81, 1.11), I-2 = 59%, and 0.90 (95% CI: 0.72, 1.12), I-2 = 0, after imputation. Time-to-delivery did not differ from null with either treatment. Including imputed IPD, there was no evidence that either drug was more effective when administered earlier, or among those with a PTD history. ConclusionsClindamycin, but not metronidazole, was beneficial in studies providing IPD, but after imputing data from missing IPD studies, treatment of BV during pregnancy did not reduce PTD, nor prolong pregnancy, in any subgroup or when started earlier in gestation.

Objectives: To investigate changes in vaginal microbiota during pregnancy, and the association between vaginal dysbiosis and reproductive outcomes.

Methods: A total of 730 (week 24) and 666 (week 36) vaginal samples from 738 unselected pregnant women were studied by microscopy (Nugent score) and characterized by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. A novel continuous vaginal dysbiosis score was developed based on these methods using a supervised partial least squares model.

Results: Among women with bacterial vaginosis in week 24 (n = 53), 47% (n = 25) also had bacterial vaginosis in week 36. In contrast, among women without bacterial vaginosis in week 24, only 3% (n = 18) developed bacterial vaginosis in week 36. Vaginal samples dominated by Lactobacillus crispatus (OR 0.35, 95% CI 0.20–0.60) and Lactobacillus iners (OR 0.40, 95% CI 0.23–0.68) in week 24 were significantly more stable by week 36 when compared with other vaginal community state types. Vaginal dysbiosis score at week 24 was associated with a significant increased risk of emergency, but not elective, caesarean section (OR 1.37, 955 CI 1.15–1.64, p < 0.001), suggesting a 37% increased risk per standard deviation increase in vaginal dysbiosis score.

Conclusions: Changes in vaginal microbiota from week 24 to week 36 of pregnancy correlated with bacterial vaginosis status and vaginal community state type. A novel vaginal dysbiosis score was associated with a significantly increased risk of emergency, but not elective, caesarean section. This was not found for bacterial vaginosis or any vaginal community state type and could point to the importance of investigating vaginal dysbiosis as a nuanced continuum instead of crude clusters. 

Preterm birth is the major cause of perinatal mortality and morbidity worldwide. Infection/inflammation is responsible for a significant percentage of preterm birth, particularly at early gestations. A recent clinical recommendation by a guidelines group of the Danish Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology advised against the use of clindamycin for the treatment of bacterial vaginosis in pregnancy to reduce the risk of spontaneous preterm birth based on lack of evidence of efficacy. We believe that the evidence for the use of clindamycin for this indication is robust and that this recommendation was reached erroneously on the basis of flawed inclusion criteria: the inclusion of an unpublished study with poorly diagnosed bacterial vaginosis and the exclusion of an important pivotal study on the use of clindamycin in early pregnancy for the prevention of preterm birth. Had these errors been corrected, the conclusions would have been different.

Since bacterial vaginosis (BV) is characterized by a lack of, or very few, lactobacilli and high numbers of small, mostly anaerobic bacteria, an obvious treatment modality would be eradication of the BV-associated bacterial flora followed by reintroduction of lactobacilli vaginally. As probiotic treatment with lactobacilli is one tool for improving the cure rate when treating BV, it is necessary to know the length of time after treatment that clindamycin can be found in the vagina and if this could interfere with the growth of the probiotic lactobacilli. We evaluated the vaginal concentration of clindamycin in 12 women for 8 days to obtain data on the concentration of clindamycin in the vagina after intravaginal treatment with the drug. The participants were examined five times between two menstrual periods: before treatment, the day after treatment was finished, and 3, 5 and 8 days post-treatment. The first day post-treatment clindamycin 0.46 x 10-3 to 8.4 x 10-3 g/g vaginal fluid (median 2.87 x 10-3) was found. Thereafter, the concentration of clindamycin decreased rapidly. In 10 patients clindamycin was found after 3 days. A very low concentration was still present 5 days after treatment in four patients. After 8 days no clindamycin was found. Clindamycin is rapidly eliminated from the vagina, within 3-8 days, after local administration. Our results indicate that treatment with probiotic lactobacilli could be problematic if carried out within 5 days after cessation of clindamycin treatment.

Background. Grief is a normal phenomenon but showing great variation depending on cultural and personal features. Bonanno and Kaltman have nonetheless proposed five aspects of normal grief. The aim of this study was to investigate if women with miscarriage experience normal grief.

Material and methods. Content analyses of 25 transcribed conversations with women 4 weeks after their early miscarriages were classified depending on the meaning-bearing units according to Bonanno and Kaltman's categories. In the factor analyses, these categories were compared with the Perinatal Grief Scale and women's age, number of children and number of miscarriages, and gestational weeks.

Results. Women with miscarriage fulfill the criteria for having normal grief according to Bonanno and Kaltman. All of the 25 women had meaning-bearing units that were classified as cognitive disorganization, dysphoria, and health deficits, whereas disrupted social and occupational functioning and positive aspects of bereavement were represented in 22 of 25 women. From the factor analysis, there are no differences in the expression of the intensity of the grief, irrespective of whether or not the women were primiparous, younger, or had suffered a first miscarriage.

Conclusion. Women's experience of grief after miscarriage is similar to general grief after death. After her loss, the woman must have the possibility of expressing and working through her grief before she can finish her pregnancy emotionally. The care-giver must facilitate this process and accept that the intensity of the grief is not dependent on the woman's age, or her number of earlier miscarriages.

The aim of the study was to describe the prevalence and age distribution of bacterial vaginosis (BV) during an observation period of 15 years in a population study with cross-sectional samples of adult women living on the Aland Islands. The Aland Islands form an archipelago in the Baltic Sea and are a province of Finland. Every fifth year, specific age groups in the adult female population are invited to participate in a screening program for early diagnosis of cervical cancer using a papanicolaou (PAP)-stained vaginal smear. Women in the age groups of 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, and 60 years are called each year. BV diagnosis of the PAP-stained smears uses the classification according to Nugent. The PAP-stained smears from the screening program of cervical cancer 1993, 1998, 2003, and 2008 were used in this study. A total of 3456 slides were investigated and 271 women could be followed for the 15-year observation period. The prevalence of BV declined from 15.6% in 1993 to 8.6% in 2008. The highest prevalence occurred among the age groups of 35 and 50 years. Among the 271 women who could be followed for the 15-year observation period, two-third showed normal/intermediate flora and one-third were infected with BV at least once. As this is a cross-sectional population study spanning 15 years, the prevalence of BV in the female adult population of the Aland Islands can be estimated. The prevalence has declined between 1993 and 2008 from 15.6% to 8.6%.

Objective. The intrauterine contraceptive device (IUCD) is the most preferred method of reversible contraception in the world today. The Swedish Medical Products Agency currently recommends that women who had a copper IUCD inserted around age 40 do not need to have it extracted until one year after the menopause. Design. Retrospective study. Setting. Skovde Central Hospital, Sweden. Population. All 114 women receiving in-patient treatment for pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) over five years between January 2001 and December 2005. Methods. Comparison between cases of tubo-ovarian abscesses and salpingitis with focus on the effects of IUCDs used continually for andgt; 5 years after insertion. Main outcome measures. Age-adjusted risk of PID within or after five years of use, microbiological findings in blood, intraabdominal pus, cervical secretions or on extracted IUCDs. Results. There were 31 cases of tubo-ovarian abscesses, 63 of salpingitis, four of endometritis, and 16 of mild genital infection. When comparing women with the same IUCD andgt; 5 years to women having the same IUCD andlt;= 5 years, the risk of tubo-ovarian abscess was higher than the risk of salpingitis (OR 19.7; 95% CI 4.5-87.2). The risk remained significant after adjustment for age, both on multiple regression analysis (OR 13.5; 95% CI 2.5-72.9) and in stratified analysis for the age group 35-50 years (OR 12.0; 95% CI 1.8-81.7). Blood or abdominal cultures from patients operated upon were positive in 47.7% of the sampled cases. Intestinal tract microbes and upper respiratory tract microbes were more common than sexually transmitted infection microbes. Conclusions. The current Medical Products Agency recommendation that a woman nearing the end of her reproductive phase can safely use the same IUCD for a period exceeding five years is challenged.

Objective: Study the reproducibility of wet smear interpretation of clue cells, lactobacillary grades and leukocyte dominance with conventional bright light and phase contrast microscopy. Study design: Sets of vaginal specimens were taken from unselected consecutive women attending an outpatient gynaecology clinic. Air-dried vaginal fluid on a microscope slide was rehydrated with isotonic saline before examination by six independent international investigators. Some investigators initially used a conventional bright light microscope, followed by phase contrast technique. Results: Using phase contrast microscopy, an excellent inter-observer agreement was obtained among all investigators for clue cells detection (Kappa values from 0.69 to 0.94) and lactobacillary grades (Kappa 0.73-0.93). When conventional light microscopes were used, poor agreement was obtained for these criteria (Kappa index 0.37-0.72 and 0.80, respectively), but switching to phase contrast microscopy by the same investigators, improved Kappa to 0.83-0.85 and 0.88, respectively. The inter-observer agreement for estimation of the leukocyte/epithelial cell ratio (Kappa index 0.17-0.67) was poor, irrespective of the type of microscopy applied. Intra-observer agreement of clue cell detection and lactobacillary grading was also found to be excellent if phase contrast microscopy was used (Kappa 0.87-0.93), and poor with conventional bright light microscopy (Kappa 0.45-0.66). Conclusion: Clue cells and the lactobacillary grades are reliably identified by phase contrast microscopy in wet smears, with excellent intra- and inter-observer reproducibility agreement, and better than when simple bright light microscopy was used. Evaluation of leukocyte grading, on the other hand, was inconsistent among the different microscopists, irrespective of the type of microscope used. We propose to grade the leukocytes in a different way than searching for leukocyte dominance over epithelial cells, namely by counting them per high power field and per epithelial cell.

Papanicolaou-stained cervicovaginal smears (Pap smears) are used to screen for cervical cancer. Since there is a lack of consensus in published reports respecting the efficacy of Pap-stained smears in BV diagnostics, there is a need to validate their use for diagnosis of BV. Slides from the international BV00 workshop were Pap stained and independently analyzed by four investigators under a phase-contrast microscope. All workshop slides - whether Pap-stained, Gram-stained or rehydrated air-dried smears - were scored according to the same Nugent classification. The diagnostic accuracy of Pap smears for diagnosis of BV had a sensitivity of 0.85 and a specificity of 0.92, with a positive and negative predictive value of 0.84 and 0.93, respectively. The interobserver weighted kappa index was 0.86 for Pap-stained smears compared to 0.81 for Gram-stained smears, and 0.70 for rehydrated air-dried smears using the mean Nugent score as the criterion standard. Provided that the samples are taken from equivalent locations (the vaginal fornix) and analyzed according to the same scoring criteria, there is no discernable difference in the diagnostic accuracy of the three smear-staining methods. The Pap-stained vaginal smears can be used as a wholly adequate alternative to Gram-stained smears for BV diagnosis. © Apmis 2007.

Aim. The aim of this study is to find out how common miscarriages are among women who have delivered a child.

Methods. The numbers of deliveries and miscarriages were extracted from the Swedish Medical Birth Register between 1983 and 2003. Linear regression was performed in order to investigate whether the increasing mean age of mothers or differences in pregnancy identification methods could explain the increased frequency of miscarriage.

Results. The reported number of miscarriages increased each year during the 21-year period, with a marked increase between 1991 and 1993 and only a slight increase during the final 10 years. For primiparous women, the frequency of reported miscarriages per delivery increased from 8.6% in 1983 to 13.9% in 2003. The corresponding figures for 2-parous women showed an increase from 14.5% to 21.3% respectively. Women aged 30-34 years had an odds ratio of 1.43 (95% CI 1.40-1.45) to suffer spontaneous abortion compared to the age group 25-29 years. Linear regression showed that an increase in mean age at delivery could only partly explain the increase in the frequency of reported miscarriages. A possible explanation could be differences in methods of identifying early pregnancy.

Conclusion. Of all women who deliver a child, nearly 20% have experienced previous miscarriage. The increased mean age of women could only explain a small portion of the seen increase in miscarriage. The marked increase from 1991 to 1993 is interesting. Possible reasons for the increase are discussed.