[Ureaplasma urealyticum and Mycoplasma hominis: incidence and clinical significance of their isolation in the perinatal period].

In order to known the clinical significance of the colonization of the maternal genitalia and infant with genital mycoplasmas, we studied prospectively 219 pairs of mothers and newborns admitted for delivery to a general public hospital. U. urealyticum and M. hominis were isolated from 72 (32.9%) and 10 (4.6%) of the mothers, respectively. During the first 4 days of life. U. urealyticum and M. hominis were isolated from 23 (10.5%) and 1 (0.5%), of the newborn infants respectively. Maternal colonization by genital mycoplasmas was not associated with a longer duration of membrane rupture, nor with a shorter gestational age, nor with smaller neonatal weight and length. Neonatal colonization by U. urealyticum was not associated with shorter gestational age, nor with smaller birth weight and length, nor with the appearance of any disease during the first 3 months of life.