Vulvovaginal candidiasis in pregnant women: an integrative literature review

Abstract

This research deals with the topic related to vulvovaginal candidiasis in pregnancy. The choice was made through the need to address that vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) is the second cause among vulvovaginitis, and may be even more frequent during pregnancy. Thus, we sought to describe how recurrent candidiasis affects the daily lives of pregnant women. For this, this study was based on an integrative literature review, which was based on scientific works already published between the years 2016 to 2021 in Portuguese and English and that specifically deal with the proposed theme. Data collection took place in a database, such as the Virtual Health Library (VHL), Lilacs, Scielo, PubMed, and Google Scholar. The search resulted in 20 articles after using the inclusion and exclusion criteria; 17 articles remained for analysis, interpretation and discussion. In the results, it was evident that candidiasis in pregnancy is a very common situation among pregnant women, because during this period estrogen levels are higher, favoring the growth of fungi, especially Candida Albicans, which naturally inhabits the intimate region of the woman. In relation to the baby, candidiasis in pregnancy does not harm the baby, but if the baby is born by vaginal delivery and, on that day, the woman has candidiasis, the baby may be contaminated and present candidiasis in its first days of life.