likely women were to report gingival bleeding in pregnancy.
This increased from 24.1% among the 8.3% of women
recruited in the first trimester (Table 1) to 49.8% among
those in the third trimester (Table 3). Women who brushed
their teeth at least twice a day were less likely than others
to have gingival bleeding before pregnancy (14.1% vs.
22.7%; Ps0.005), but that difference disappeared entirely
during pregnancy with 41% of both groups reporting gingival
bleeding. Even 34.8% of women, who brushed their teeth
more than twice a day (7.1%), reported gingival bleeding in
pregnancy. Whilst there was a strong relationship between
gingival bleeding outside pregnancy and women’s perceived
oral health, this was far less so for gingival bleeding during
pregnancy (Table 3). Nevertheless, a significant relationship
remained with an adjusted odds ratio (OR) of 1.45 w95%
confidence interval (CI): 1.17–1.79x after controlling for
maternal age, smoking, gestational age, and oral health practices,
including dental visits.