What is it about?
Urinary tract infections are common during pregnancy, but increasing antibiotic resistance can make them more difficult to treat safely. We followed pregnant women attending 12 primary healthcare clinics in Palestine to investigate urinary tract infections, the bacteria causing them, their antibiotic resistance patterns, and recurrence. Among women who underwent urine culture, 41.2% had a confirmed UTI. E. coli was the most common pathogen, and more than half of the bacterial isolates were multidrug resistant. The findings highlight the importance of urine culture, local resistance surveillance, and evidence-based antibiotic selection during pregnancy.
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Why is it important?
Treating infections during pregnancy requires balancing effective treatment with maternal and fetal safety, while antimicrobial resistance further limits therapeutic options. In this study, 55.7% of UTI isolates were multidrug resistant, and culture testing was not completed by all participants despite being offered. These findings show why relying primarily on empirical treatment can be problematic in settings with substantial antimicrobial resistance. Strengthening access to culture-based diagnosis, local resistance surveillance, and antimicrobial stewardship in antenatal care could support more appropriate antibiotic use and better maternal care.
Perspectives
One of the most important messages from this study is that antimicrobial resistance in pregnancy cannot be addressed through antibiotic selection alone. Diagnostic access matters. Although urine culture was offered to participants, many women did not complete testing because of factors including perceived lack of need, negative initial urinalysis, limited laboratory access, transportation difficulties, cost, and competing responsibilities. Our findings reinforce the need to connect antimicrobial stewardship with accessible diagnostic services and locally relevant resistance data, particularly for vulnerable populations such as pregnant women.
Dr Dala Daraghmeh
Al-Quds University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Bacterial profiles, antibiotic resistance, and recurrence of UTIs during pregnancy: a prospective cohort study from Palestine, BMC Infectious Diseases, July 2026, Springer Science + Business Media,
DOI: 10.1186/s12879-026-13978-0.
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