{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,2]],"date-time":"2026-07-02T09:54:21Z","timestamp":1782986061084,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,7,25]],"date-time":"2023-07-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1690243200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"University of Notre Dame Australia Research Incentive Scheme funding"},{"name":"Cerebral Palsy Alliance"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Microorganisms"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The aim of this work was to achieve a better understanding of the bacterial pathogens associated with stillbirths that would serve to inform clinical interventions directed at reducing this adverse pregnancy outcome. A prospective observational study was conducted with the participation of 22 women from northern Peru, of whom 11 experienced fetal death in utero and 11 delivered preterm births. Swabs were taken from the vagina, placenta, amniotic fluid and axilla of the infant at birth by Caesarean section. The bacterial populations in the vagina and the amniotic space of each participant were determined by employing the amplicon sequencing of the V4 region of the 16S rRNA genes. The sequence data were analysed using bioinformatics tools. The work showed differences in the composition of the genital microbiomes of women who experienced preterm birth or fetal death in utero. There were no differences in the alpha diversity between the genital microbiotas of both groups of women, but there were more different taxa in the vagina and amniotic space of the preterm participants. Lactobacillus spp. was less abundant in the stillbirth cases. E. coli\/Shigella, Staphylococcus, Gardnerella, Listeria and Bacteroides taxa were associated with the stillbirths. In each woman, there was a minimal concordance between the bacterial populations in the vagina and amniotic space.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/microorganisms11081877","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,7,26]],"date-time":"2023-07-26T01:03:25Z","timestamp":1690333405000},"page":"1877","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":10,"title":["Insights into the Genital Microbiota of Women Who Experienced Fetal Death in Utero"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"Mira","family":"Holliday","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Health and Medicine, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kumar","family":"Uddipto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Medicine, Sydney, University of Notre Dame Australia, Darlinghurst, NSW 2010, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gerardo","family":"Castillo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"\u00c1rea de Ciencias Biom\u00e9dicas y Policl\u00ednico, University of Piura, San Eduardo, Piura 20009, Peru"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Luz Estela","family":"Vera","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"\u00c1rea de Ciencias Biom\u00e9dicas y Policl\u00ednico, University of Piura, San Eduardo, Piura 20009, Peru"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Julie A.","family":"Quinlivan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Health and Medicine, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia"},{"name":"Institute for Health Research, University of Notre Dame Australia, Fremantle, WA 6160, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"George L.","family":"Mendz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Medicine, Sydney, University of Notre Dame Australia, Darlinghurst, NSW 2010, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,7,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"506","DOI":"10.1016\/j.wombi.2020.09.005","article-title":"Stillbirth in Australia 1: The road to now: Two decades of stillbirth research and advocacy in Australia","volume":"33","author":"Flenady","year":"2020","journal-title":"Women Birth"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"587","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(15)00837-5","article-title":"Stillbirths: Rates, risk factors, and acceleration towards 2030","volume":"387","author":"Lawn","year":"2016","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"ref_3","unstructured":"UN Inter-Agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (2020). 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