Table 1.

Study characteristics and findings of the association between vaginal microbiota (VMB) composition and pregnancy outcomes in pregnant women in the sub-Saharan African region.

References	Country	Study design	Study population	Methods	Number of participants	Maternal age (years)	Gestational age at sampling (weeks)	Gravidity/parity	Pregnancy outcomes	Other genital infections (not BV)	Number of women infected with HIV	Factors considered when measuring the association	Main findings
Donders et al. (84)	South Africa	Prospective cohort study	Pregnant women at their first antenatal visit	Exocervical scraping and Schröder's classification for Lactobacillus morphotypes	256	NR	NR	NR	17/165 neonates with LBW (≤2 kg)	- Candida 25% - CT Ag: 9% - GC: 3%/ - TP: 9% - TV: 36%	0	No factors considered when measuring the association (univariate analysis)	15.7% (n = 165) of mothers with grade III Lactobacillus flora at the first antenatal examination gave birth to <2 kg birth weight. This was significantly more often than the 4.7% of mothers with grade I + II Lactobacillus flora at the first antenatal examination that gave birth to a birth to <2 kg baby. OR = 3.6 (95% CI, 1.3–11.6, P = 0.03)a

BV, bacterial vaginosis; CT Ag, Chlamydia trachomatis antigen; GC, cultured gonococci; NR, not reported; OR, odds ratio; TP, Treponema Pallidum; TV, Trichomonas vaginalis.

^aCalculated based on the number given in the original paper (83).

Grade I Lactobacillus flora: normal appearance of numerous Lactobacillus morphotypes (84). Grade II Lactobacillus flora: the presence of a diminished amount mixed with other bacteria (84). Grade III Lactobacillus flora: Absence of lactobacilli or overwhelming presence of other bacteria (84).