Prospective studies of Mycoplasma hominis infection in pregnancy.

The prevalence of Mycoplasma hominis infection in ten different studies of pregnant women ranged from 7.3% to 50%. It is unclear, however to what extent M. hominis is a pathogen to the mother or fetus. Prospective studies have attempted to investigate the role of M. hominis in complications of pregnancy. Several have indicated a role for the agent in postpartum fever and endometritis, but only one so far has demonstrated the association in a large-scale sample independent of other suspected pathogens. M. hominis has not been implicated in spontaneous abortion or stillbirth, and only one study has shown an association with low birth weight. There is evidence that M. hominis-infected women with low or absent prenatal titers of antibody to this organism are at risk for puerperal complications, and that serologic definition of the activity of infection may be a better predictor of outcome than is the mere presence of the organism. There is need for more information on all major pathogens and their roles, each independent of each other, and on the roles of non-infectious factors and the host's antibody status in determining abnormal outcomes of pregnancy.