ObjectiveTo study the clinical characteristics of viral hepatitis in pregnancy. MethodsA retrospective analysis was performed on 77 pregnant women with viral hepatitis who were admitted to our hospital from January 2009 to March 2013. Cause of hepatitis, serologic and virologic markers, degree of liver damage, and association with the stage of pregnancy were analyzed. Comparison of continuous data between groups was made by Kruskal-Wallis H test. ResultsThe main cause of viral hepatitis in pregnancy was HBV infection (72 cases, 93.51%), and 10.27% of patients were infected with hepatitis A, B or E virus. Moderate liver damage was detected in 64 patients (83.12%), severe liver damage in 7 patients (9.09%), and liver failure in 3 patients (3.90%). Sixteen patients (20.78%) were diagnosed with hepatitis in the first trimester of pregnancy, 49 (63.64%) in the second trimester, and 12 (15.58%) in the third trimester. Liver function indices, including total bile acid (TBA), total bilirubin (TBil), albumin (Alb), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), and prothrombin activity (PTA), were compared between HBeAg (+) and HBeAg (-) patients and between patients with HBV DNA ＞106 IU/ml and ≤106 IU/ml, and no significant differences were found in either comparison (P＞0.05). ConclusionViral hepatitis in pregnancy is mainly caused by infection with hepatitis B virus. Liver damage is mostly moderate and severe liver damage and liver failure often occur in the middle or late stage of pregnancy. This study indicates that pregnant women should take precautions and active treatment for chronic hepatitis B.