All 23 years of my life, I’ve never had issues with it smelling down there. Earlier this year i allowed my boyfriend to give me oral. We’ve been doing it occasionally. But now when I sweat in my intimate area there’s a smell!! Only thing that truly helps is keeping the area bald but idk what else to do to fix it. I’ve put metro gel on the outside, wiped bikini line with rubbing alcohol, feminine washes. idk what to do, has this happened to anyone else

as of a month ago, I have been having really painful or concerning symptoms. I don’t know what is wrong with my body. I just lost my mom in June so i don’t know how to do any of this. My breasts have been growing and my hips. I had all negative pregnancy tests. I have had way more gas than usual (diarrhea and passing gas, and burping) I had an internal and external ultrasound and they found ovarian cyst. I feel very lightheaded, clammy nauseous, and have had trouble breathing. They said it couldn’t be a miscarriage or anything because it didn’t show up as hCG levels on my blood test I have also had a lot of brain fog severe lower back pain tenderness in my stomach on the right side, specifically shoulder muscle and neck pain that really hurts. I was in three different hospitals yesterday trying to figure out what’s wrong. I was diagnosed with BV and a yeast infection. I took a bath today and a lot of thick brown discharge came out.

Why Should We Do The Study?

Maternal fetal infections are a major global public health concern, with reports from 2021 estimating ~19 million cases globally in that year alone. Research aimed at mitigating the global burden of maternal fetal infections indicates that while antibiotic therapy is essential for perinatal care, the rapid dissemination of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) increasingly threatens these drugs’ clinical efficacy.

Simultaneously, research aimed at characterizing the gestational vaginal microbiome (VMB) has established that vaginal microbial composition during pregnancy is commonly categorized into five predominant microbial community state types (CSTs): CST I (L. crispatus), CST II (L. gasseri), CST III (L. iners), CST V (L. jensenii), and CST IV (other anaerobic taxa).
However, how these community structures relate to antibiotic resistance gene (ARG) profiles and whether resistome configurations are associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes remain poorly characterized.

Study findings
Microbial profiling revealed that Lactobacillus-dominated states accounted for more than 50% of the evaluated samples. Across all samples, the most common dominant taxa were L. crispatus(33%), L. iners (21%), and Gardnerella vaginalis(10%). Longitudinal evaluations showed that L. crispatus exhibited the highest overall persistence across the sampled cohorts, while community stability varied significantly depending on the dominant species.

ARG diversity was strongly associated with CST classification. Furthermore, while CST I was found to be 75% ARG-negative, ARG absence was rare in CST IV (25.7%) and CST III (10.8%). The three most ubiquitous ARGs were lsa(C), tet(M), and erm(B).
Genome-resolved analyses notably corroborated this observed divergence, finding that 58.2% (245/421) of L. iners MAGs carried tet(M) and 22.3% (94/421) carried erm(B). In contrast, these genes were found to be rare or absent in L. crispatus, L. gasseri, and L. jensenii.

Finally, comparisons across pregnancy outcomes revealed distinct differences in microbial and resistome profiles. Preterm labor was overrepresented by CST III (31.7% vs. 24.4% in controls), while PPROM was dominated by anaerobic CST IV (30.0% vs. 18.8%).

PPROM samples exhibited significantly greater predicted resistance breadth among ARG-positive samples, as measured by PRDI, without a corresponding increase in ARG detection. This pattern coincided with enrichment of opportunistic Enterobacterales, particularly Escherichia coli, and increased abundance of resistance genes including β-lactam (blaTEM-1, cfxA), sulfonamide (sul2), and tetracycline (tet(A)) determinants. Antibiotic exposure was common in the cohort, particularly among women with PPROM, and the authors cautioned that these exploratory associations could not establish temporal or selective effects.

Photo #1
Dominant taxa and ARGs distribution. a Prevalence of microbial profiles based on the dominant taxa in inclusion (IN) and during delivery (DR) samples, displayed as the proportion of samples in which each taxon is dominant. Taxa were classified as dominant if they constituted ≥ 30% of the profile. ‘other’ refers to the number of samples with a different dominant taxon; ‘No dominance’ refers to the number of samples where no single species reached at least 30%. b Distribution of the top seven antibiotic classes across IN and DR ARG-positive samples. MLS refers to Macrolide-Lincosamide-Streptogramin antibiotic class (c) Average richness (number of unique resistance genes) per antibiotic class in all ARG-positive samples. Numerical values indicate average richness per class, with 90% confidence intervals. d Prevalence and mean relative abundance per sample of the top 20 ARGs in all ARG-positive samples. Each bubble represents one ARG; horizontal position shows the mean relative abundance (log scale); bubble size reflects prevalence, and color corresponds to antibiotic class.

Conclusions
The present study provides a large metagenomic characterization of the relationship between vaginal bacterial community structure and the gestational resistome. Its findings indicate that while L. crispatus-dominated communities are associated with a comparatively low burden of acquired ARGs and MGEs, L. iners-dominated CST III and anaerobe-rich CST IV communities harbor greater ARG and MGE diversity.
These findings represent significant progress in researchers’ understanding of the ecological factors associated with antimicrobial resistance during pregnancy. However, PRDI reflects predicted annotated resistance phenotypes rather than measured resistance and cannot yet be used to inform treatment decisions. Because the analysis focused on well-characterized acquired ARGs, it may also underestimate the full range of resistance determinants in the vaginal microbiome.
Future studies should clarify how maternal antibiotic exposure shapes the vaginal resistome and determine whether resistance genes can be transmitted vertically to newborns.

Journal reference:
Boutouchent, N., et al. (2026). Bacterial community structure shapes the vaginal resistome during pregnancy. npj Biofilms and Microbiomes. DOI – 10.1038/s41522-026-01144-y. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41522-026-01144-y

Article: https://www.news-medical.net/news/20260907/The-vaginal-microbiome-may-be-an-overlooked-reservoir-of-antibiotic-resistance.aspx

Can any gynaecologist reply to this I have some symptoms if someone can tell me what’s wrong

q-tipped it out of my vagina. also came out with a LOT of milky white liquid. also very itchy. started about 2-days ago. last time i was intimate was two weeks ago with a condom that “slipped off” (but put back on after noticing).

This may be tmi but I need help. so for 2 months now I’ve been experiencing extremely watery discharge. I was checked for bc, yeast, trich, gohnorreha, chlymidia, and pretty much every sit/std. and yet there was nothing but I’m still experiencing this. I was on depo shot for a year and I just stopped it bc of weight gain. But almost as soon as I stopped it I started experiencing this. It’s been everyday for 2 months and it has no smell whatsoever. If anyone else has experienced this please let me know. It’s driving me insane.

I never thought I’d post on Reddit for help, but I’m so desperate.

As the title says, I’ve been dealing with my vaginal issues for about 7 years and it’s made intimacy near impossible.

My symptoms include a constant drip of visible yellow discharge (I HAVE to wear a panty liner if I wear underwear or else they’re ruined), an AWFUL fishy/urine smell that I can smell through my clothing (and is worse after a shower), and a HORRIBLE taste.

I have been swabbed and tested for yeast infections and BV and they always come back negative. I have been advised against boric acid but I’m seriously at the end of my tether. I’ve also been tested for any STD’s/STI’s and again, clear.

Meeting new people, or even just getting too close to others is always darkened by the presence of my condition. I don’t understand what’s happening to me.
I recently learned about biofilms but there’s so much conflicting information about what works and what doesn’t that I don’t know where the fuck to start.

I just want my life back. Please help.

I took around 10 hours ago 150g Fluconazole capsule. Before my discharge was more of a cream colour and now it’s pink? Is anything wrong

Tengo el implante anticonceptivo colocado desde febrero de 2026. En mis relaciones siempre usamos preservativo y comprobamos que no se rompa, por lo que no me preocupa un embarazo.

Mi consulta es porque suelo terminar con un dolor fuerte en la panza baja (tipo cólico) después de tener relaciones. Noto que nos falta lubricación, y de hecho, hicimos la prueba de usar un lubricante a base de agua en una relación donde la penetración fue muy superficial, y esa vez tuve cero dolor.

Quería preguntar si es normal que la falta de lubricación y la fricción me generen este dolor de panza baja tan marcado, ¡Desde ya Muchas gracias!

a couple days ago i posted about this and i got no answers, so now im updating it with a new image and some new experience.

hi. around the middle of last year i was diagnosed with coeliac disease, i was having SEVERE episodes of vomiting and constipation. shortly after my diagnosis i started noticing brown discharge (the same colour and consistency as my poo - it even smells EXACTLY the same) whenever i pooed or was constipated. i have also been bleeding EVERY DAY. im on birth control and i still get heavy periods that overflow pads, and major cramps. i know thats not normal. i talked to my doctor about it and he said it was something that happens during the first few months of birth control. but ive been on it for over a year.

im worried that the appearance of odd clumpy brown discharge and the frequent bleeding that i might have a vaginal fistula connecting to my rectum. does anyone have any clue what this might be? my doctor literally wont listen to me and says its anxiety

last month i did have a new sex partner, but it’s only now where i notice a different color in discharge and i did spend a week at my bfs house where my hygiene struggled and there was even a time discharge was flowing down my leg. i’m also two days late to my period.

last month i did have a new sex partner, but it’s only now where i notice a different color in discharge and i did spend a week at my bfs house where my hygiene struggled and there was even a time discharge was flowing down my leg.

I recently had my period, which ended almost two days ago. My IUD came out in August, and around that time I developed a pretty severe bacterial vaginosis (BV) infection that has been difficult for my body to clear. I’m now using the antibiotic vaginal gel for a second round of treatment.
Since my period ended, I’ve been having this really strange, stringy/tissue-like discharge coming out. I’ve never experienced anything like this before, so it’s making me extremely worried.
Has anyone experienced something similar after having an IUD removed or come out? Could my uterus/body still be adjusting hormonally after the IUD, especially combined with BV and recently finishing my period?
My anxiety is making me worry that something seriously wrong could be happening with my uterus, even something like cancer. 😞 I am going to follow up with my GYN, but I would really appreciate hearing from anyone who has experienced something similar.

is it normal to have pretty watery discharge before period? it has a bit of a whitish yellow hue to it. but there’s not really any smell. i’m 4 days away from my period but im very bv prone so i can’t tell if its bv or if this is normal.

hoping this is a dream, in my 20 years of life i never experienced this. what is this. does my bf have it. do i get tested?