Very often a woman carrying a child is exposed to serious pathologies, and all because her body is being rebuilt, it has to work for two, so the immune system is weakened. Often, women experience such diseases of the reproductive system, which, without proper treatment, can lead to miscarriage. One such disease is bacterial vaginosis. During pregnancy, it most often occurs and requires urgent treatment under the supervision of the attending physician. But what is this disease, how to treat it correctly, and what preventive measures to take?
What is vaginosis?
Vaginosis during pregnancy is a disease accompanied by disorders in the vagina with a rapid decrease in the number of lactic acid bacteria and a pronounced increase in opportunistic microflora. In rare cases, an inflammatory process appears. This is one of the most common ailments found in the fair sex in reproductive age. Accidentally it can be diagnosed only in 30%patients, those who complain of whitish discharge - in 90% of cases, and in pregnant women - in 35%.
Bacterial vaginosis during pregnancy, or, as it is often called, dysbacteriosis, leads to the fact that lactobacilli, which are responsible for the protective functions of the body, completely disappear, so the woman becomes vulnerable. During pregnancy, neglected forms can lead to fetal loss, so it is very important to detect the disease in time and start treatment.
The norm of bacteria in the vagina
In the vagina of every woman live special bacteria that protect the reproductive system from inflammation and other pathologies. The optimal number should be:
- lactobacilli – 95%;
- 2, 5-5% is opportunistic flora.
The number of pathogenic organisms is so great that it’s impossible to say exactly how many of them, each girl has her own set, but there are certain types that are present in everyone and they will definitely appear if dysbacteriosis begins. The main bacteria is Gardnerella vaginalis, it always manifests itself if vaginosis has begun during pregnancy. It is considered a kind of marker and almost all laboratory tests are based on it.
Classification of vaginosis
Before you figure out the important issue for many women, how to treat vaginosis during pregnancy, you need to know exactly what severity of the disease is:
- 1 degree. It is determined ifthere is no microflora in the smear, but epithelial cells are present without changes and the possibility of infection with other bacteria remains.
- 2 degree. In this case, the degree of Doderlein rods decreases, and the gram-negative and positive flora increases, a slight increase in leukocytes is found in the blood.
- 3 degree. In this case, lactic acid bacteria are completely absent, the clinical picture of the disease is obvious.
Causes of vaginosis in pregnant women
When lactobacilli are normal, nothing threatens either the woman or her fetus. They monitor the balance of microflora and produce lactic acid, which maintains an optimal acid balance that is detrimental to most pathogenic microorganisms. But under the influence of certain factors, the number of beneficial bacteria can decrease, in which case there is a violation of the microecological system. A low level of lactobacilli leads to the uncontrolled growth of harmful bacteria: gardnerella, bacteroids, mobilincus, peptococci, mycoplasma, streptococci.
It is difficult to determine exactly what affects the microflora and causes vaginosis during pregnancy, but internal and external factors can influence the decrease in the number of lactobacilli:
- taking antibiotics;
- treatment with antimicrobial, hormonal and antifungal agents;
- hormonal failures after abortion, labor or puberty;
- vaginal douching;
- use of antimicrobials during intimate hygiene with triclosan;
- useoral contraceptives;
- use of spermicides, which are part of vaginal suppositories and tablets;
- allergic or endocrine diseases;
- climate change, stressful situations;
- intestinal imbalance;
- wearing synthetic underwear;
- pregnancy, especially with complications;
- neglect of hygiene rules.
How does the ratio of bacteria change during pregnancy?
Lactobacilli help to break down glycogen, which is formed from the cells of the squamous epithelium of the vagina, which is necessary in order to build an invisible protective barrier. But these cells do not live long, and all because the hormonal background is constantly changing in the body of every lady and not always for the better.
While a woman is carrying a baby, under the influence of corpus luteum hormones, the number of squamous epithelium cells increases significantly. As a result, it turns out that the glycogen reserve is quite large, so the level of lactobacilli increases, and the degree of opportunistic microflora decreases and, as a result, the pH becomes lower. The body tries to clean the birth canal on its own by the time labor begins and the baby gets acquainted with he althy microflora, which will settle in his intestines.
At first glance it seems that everything should be just perfect, but in most cases too acidic environment leads to the fact that some forms of transient infections grow, includingwhich fungi candida, mycoplasma, ureplasma, and eventually begins to develop vaginosis during pregnancy.
What happens with vaginosis?
When exposed to one of the mechanisms, the amount of useful substances decreases. The degree of lactic acid quickly decreases, the pH rises and the pathogenic flora begins to multiply, primarily gardnerella, which further inhibits beneficial bacteria. It turns out a "vicious circle", as a result of which lactobacilli die in large numbers.
The rapid development of pathogenic microorganisms leads to the fact that a woman has unpleasant symptoms, indicating that vaginosis has appeared during pregnancy.
Symptomatics in pregnant women
Not always in the early stages of the disease is manifested by severe symptoms, but if the disease progresses, then the following signs appear:
- abundant leucorrhea of a slightly grayish hue, and if the disease is not treated for years, the discharge can become greenish, frothy and viscous;
- a characteristic fishy smell appears, it is especially heard during intercourse of partners;
- pain during intercourse, burning;
- discomfort in the lower abdomen does not allow to live in peace, on examination, hypertonicity of the uterus is found;
- unpleasant burning during urination, but this symptom is much less common.
After the first symptoms appear, you need to urgently seek advice from a gynecologist who will conduct an examinationand be able to accurately diagnose.
Diagnostic methods for determining vaginosis
Most often, only a doctor can diagnose a pathology. On her own, no woman will be able to say what kind of infection is progressing in her body, since there are many varieties of bacteria that cause it. Most often, discomfort is simply felt in the lower abdomen and vagina, so you should seek the advice of a doctor. He, in turn, examines the woman, takes a smear for analysis and draws blood in order to conduct additional studies and identify which infection provoked the development of the disease.
After carrying out all the necessary studies, you can accurately confirm or refute the diagnosis, and only then begin treatment of vaginosis during pregnancy.
What is the danger of an ailment during the bearing of a baby?
Any infection can cause serious harm to the he alth of not only a woman, but also her unborn baby. During vaginosis, inflammation of the amniotic sac may occur, as a result of which a crack and even a rupture may appear on it. If this happens, the woman may go into premature labor or spontaneous abortion. When a crack appears, the infection can enter the amniotic fluid, and eventually the baby will become infected.
Such an infection can lead to serious consequences: the development of the fetus will stop or sepsis will appear.
That is why it is important to detect bacterial vaginosis in time during pregnancy. Treatment must be started immediatelyafter confirmation of the diagnosis and all recommendations must be followed strictly.
Treatment of vaginosis during pregnancy
If the patient has a confirmed diagnosis, then first of all the doctor recommends taking a course of antibiotics, which are safe for a woman in her position.
It is very important to follow all the recommendations of the doctor, from the first to the last day, until all symptoms disappear. But it is worth remembering that the disappearance of symptoms may indicate that the infection has subsided, but as soon as the medication is stopped, they may reappear. And relapses are usually much more severe, and therapy works worse for them.
But even if the patient fully follows all the recommendations - take antibiotics, put suppositories from bacterial vaginosis during pregnancy, it is possible that the infection will appear again.
Almost a third of women who receive treatment experience a recurrence of symptoms in the first three months after taking antibiotics. The relapse is due to the fact that taking such drugs killed most of not only pathogenic bacteria, but also beneficial ones. And so far no way has been found that could make beneficial bacteria multiply faster, so pathogenic microorganisms continue to multiply.
If a relapse occurs, then the woman is prescribed repeated therapy, while the drugs are selected individually, because everything possible must be done to protect the fetus. Accurately answer the main question, how to treat bacterial vaginosis during pregnancy cana gynecologist who knows exactly about all the diseases of a woman and will take all measures so as not to harm the he alth of the patient and her unborn baby.
How to restore the microflora?
After taking antibiotics, the microflora is disturbed, so it is very important to start taking biological products and use them intravaginally. Most often, doctors stop at these drugs:
- "Apilak";
- "Acilact";
- "Bifidumbacterin";
- "Lactobacterin" and others.
To do this, you need to take 2 doses of the drug and dilute with 5 ml of purified water, blot the swab and insert it intravaginally. The procedure is carried out twice a day. The course is up to 10 days.
But before starting this kind of therapy, it is better to ask the doctor for advice.
Vaginosis prevention
To date, it has not been fully clarified what exactly causes dysbacteriosis in the female genital organs, so it is impossible to say exactly what preventive measures will give a positive result. But there are a few things you can do to slightly reduce your risk of getting bacterial vaginosis during pregnancy:
- It is very important to follow the rules of safe sex, especially if you are not sure about your partner. It is not yet clear what role a woman's sexual life plays in the appearance of vaginosis, but statistics show that the pathology occurs more often in those patients who have several sexual partners at once.
- It is important to stop smoking. There is an opinion thatsmoking increases the risk of developing diseases such as vaginosis in early pregnancy.
Never douche and wash the vagina with a jet of water. Also, the doctor does not advise using sprays for intimate hygiene and soap for washing the genitals. All these remedies can upset the balance and lead to the development of pathogenic microflora
Any disease during pregnancy requires a careful approach and careful treatment to prevent complications and harm the baby.
