ORAL PRESENTATION Open Access Infection and inflammation

Potentially preventable maternal infections are increas-ingly recognized as being a cause of fetal death or still-birth. McClure and Goldenberg maintain that infection causes 20 % to 40 % of fetal deaths in developed and developing countries respectively [1]. Infection causes embryonic, fetal, and perinatal death by multiple mechanisms including: 1) direct, blood borne placental infection (via maternal blood stream), 2) ascending vaginal infection through the cervix, 3) iatrogenic infection (such as amniocentesis and “membrane stripping”), and 4) persistent uterine infection already present during implantation [2]. More recently recognized mechanisms include