Eligibility Criteria
Original studies that investigated the vaginal microbiome during human pregnancy, were written in English, and published within the past 10 years were included. Only studies with pregnant women as study participants and reported microbiome taxonomy were included. Review papers, editorials, commentaries, and methodological papers including procedure/protocols were excluded. Research studies that used a targeted approach (i.e.: only on specific microbial taxa, such as Lactobacillus species, were analyzed via microbe specific PCR), were also excluded.