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Modeling Ascending Vaginal Infection, Preterm Birth, and Neonatal Morbidity in Mice
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Pathophysiology of preterm birth: emerging concepts of maternal infection

Kim A Boggess1

  • 1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, CB 7516, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7516, USA. kboggess@med.unc.edu

Clinics in Perinatology
|August 9, 2005
PubMed

Preterm birth remains a significant health concern. Maternal reproductive infections such as bacterial vaginosis pose increased risk for preterm birth, although treatment of bacterial vaginosis has not proven to be universally effective in preterm birth prevention. Maternal oral infection such as clinical periodontal disease has also been identified as a risk factor for preterm birth, and pilot data suggest that oral treatment interventions undertaken during pregnancy may reduce preterm birth risk.

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