Establishment of Vaginal Microbiota Composition in Early Pregnancy and its Association with Subsequent Preterm Prelabor Rupture of the Fetal Membrane

In this study, we use metataxonomics to longitudinally characterize the vaginal bacterial composition from as early as 6 weeks of gestation in women at high (n = 38) and low (n = 22) risk of preterm birth who subsequently experience PPROM and in women delivering at term without complications (n = 36). Reduced Lactobacillus spp. abundance and high diversity was observed prior to PPROM in 20% and 26% of women at low and high risk of preterm births respectively, but in only 3% of women who delivered at term.