Maternal urinary tract infection: is it independently associated with adverse pregnancy outcome?

Objective: This population-based study was aimed to determine whether there is an association between urinary tract infections (UTI) during pregnancy, among patients in whom antibiotic treatment was recommended, and maternal and perinatal outcome.

Methods: A retrospective population-based study comparing all singleton pregnancies of patients with and without UTI was performed. Multiple logistic regression models were performed to control for confounders.

Results: Out of 199,093 deliveries, 2.3% (n = 4742) had UTI during pregnancy and delivery. Patients with UTI had significantly higher rates of intra-uterine growth restriction (IUGR), pre-eclampsia, caesarean deliveries (CD) and pre-term deliveries (either before 34 weeks or 37 weeks of gestation). Although controlling for possible confounders such as maternal age and parity, using multivariable analyses, the significant association between UTI and IUGR, pre-eclampsia, CD and preterm deliveries persisted. In contrast, no significant differences in 5-min Apgar scores less than 7 or perinatal mortality were noted between the groups (0.6% vs. 0.6%; p = 0.782, and 1.5% vs. 1.4%; p = 0.704, respectively).

Conclusion: Maternal UTI is independently associated with pre-term delivery, pre-eclampsia, IUGR and CD. Nevertheless, it is not associated with increased rates of perinatal mortality compared with women without UTI.