Itching during pregnancy.

This retrospective study was performed in order to evaluate the frequency and the causes for itching during pregnancy. The series consists of 129 pregnant women with generalized itching, which is 1.2% of all deliveries. The most common cause for itching was hepatosis of pregnancy (83%). The other causes were pruritus of pregnancy without any liver dysfunction (12%), dermatitis (3%) and other (2%). The average time of the onset of itching was the 30th pregnancy week in hepatosis of pregnancy and the 26.5th pregnancy week in pruritus of pregnancy. The frequency of toxaemia of pregnancy varied within 24-33% in the different itching groups and that of urinary tract infection within 21-33%. The proportion of urinary tract infection was also fairly high, 23-24%, among the previous diseases. Perinatal mortality in previous pregnancies was reported by 14 patients (9.0%), 11 of them in hepatosis group (9.6%). The corresponding frequencies of perinatal mortality in the present pregnancy were 1.6% and 1.9%. The drugs most frequently used during the present pregnancy before admission were antibiotics and other chemotherapeutic agents, sulphonamide being the most common.