This presentation is getting me thinking about how to make women aware of sexually transmitted diseases that aren't the ones often heard about in the media. Let's work on a press release that focuses on sex and birth defects. Thanks for pulling all these diseases together.

If I were to have another child, would it be practical to have my husband screened for these diseases?? I go to all the normal prenatal checkups, but not sure if they test for all that.

Caroline, I am so sorry about the loss of your twins and that you weren't given any information beforehand. To my knowledge, part of the reason that urine culturing is not routinely carried out during prenatal appointments (just usually at the first in some countries) is that there aren't studies on the additional benefits of testing periodically during pregnancy. Hopefully, researchers will consider this topic for a future study! From my perspective as a loss mother also, periodic urine culturing with appropriate treatment is an opportunity for mom and provider to protect babies throughout pregnancy. Perhaps one day this will become standard for every pregnancy to help prevent losses in the first place and not just in special consideration after a loss. Thank you for sharing your experience.