The results of a major study reveal that expectant mothers and women who have given birth in the past six months are 69% more likely to get the illness.
Researchers from the
Health Protection Agency are behind the study and have urged midwives and GPs to keep an eye out for the symptoms.
The study examined the medical records from the General Practice Research Database of more than 190,000 women pregnant women between 1996 and 2008.
The results show the rate of TB among pregnant women, and those who have recently given birth, was 15.4 per 100,000.
While among the general population the figure was 9.1 per 100,000.
The researchers claim that pregnancy could weaken a woman’s immune system, making her more susceptible to the illnesses.
Dr Dominik Zenner, a public health consultant and author of the report, said: ‘Ours is the first primary care based cohort study to quantify the risk of TB during pregnancy and postpartum.
‘Although we found a significantly increased risk of TB in the six months following pregnancy, but not during pregnancy, the risk during pregnancy is almost certainly also increased.
‘The incidence of TB diagnosis is significantly increased post-partum, probably reflecting an increase in TB incidence during pregnancy.
‘Given our results, targeted screening of pregnant and post-partum women in high-risk groups may be warranted, given that delays in treatment initiation are associated with poorer outcomes for both mothers and their children.’
He added: ‘We hope these findings will encourage those looking after pregnant women to consider possible TB infection in women presenting with symptoms to avoid delays in diagnosis.’
The study is published in the
American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
