Feeding C-Section Babies Their Mom’s Poop Gives Them Healthy Guts, Study Says

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Before the due date, mothers and their partners have a lot of decisions to make. Taking the top position on this list is the delivery procedure. In making this decision, physicians favor the procedure that best guarantees the safety of the child and mother.

Natural birth, for its benefits, especially regarding the health of the newborn, is usually preferred over the C-section. However, a new study seems to have found a way to make babies born through the C-section healthier (1).

Feeding C-Section Babies Their Mom’s Poop Gives Them Healthy Guts, Study Says
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At birth, babies have in their gut different bacteria, fungi, and viruses. The amount of these gut microbes, known as the microbiome, depends on the type of delivery – normal or cesarean. Babies delivered through the cesarean section are susceptible to long-term health complications because of the difference in microbiome presence in their gut (2).

These health complications most likely always involve immune-related disorders such as allergies, inflammatory bowel disease, and celiac disease. However, a new study found that by feeding babies born through C-section breast milk mixed with some of their mothers’ poop, they can develop the same microbiomes as naturally delivered babies.

In adults, there are between 500 to 1,000 species of gut bacteria, and a lot of it is beneficial. These bacteria perform numerous functions, from protecting against infection-causing microbes to food digestion and nutrient metabolization. They also contribute to the development of the central nervous system, influencing mood and cognitive health.

According to studies published by the National Library of Medicine, the foundation of this collection of bacteria begins at birth (3).

In short, microbiomes are essential to the overall growth and development of every individual. And what happens at birth affects how these microbes develop. According to a study, researchers found that babies born via normal delivery had more beneficial bacteria than they had harmful bacteria. Another study involving 6,000 babies found that babies born via C-section were twice as likely to develop food allergies or asthma by age 3.

Feeding C-Section Babies Their Mom’s Poop Gives Them Healthy Guts, Study Says
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Hence, the question now is why the health of the private parts is so important to the development of these microbiomes.

Experts agree that normal birth exposes babies to different bacteria from the mom as they pass through the birth canal. And this step is critical to the development of microbiomes in infants.

When a baby is born via C-section, they miss out on this bacterial baptism. There’s a practice known as microbirthing. It involves inoculating a newborn’s skin, nose, and mouth with fluids from the birth canal. But because there’s little research regarding the practice, doctors don’t recommend it.

Based on this new research, for a more effective transfer of microbiomes from mother to child for C-section babies, you have to look further south. According to microbiologist Willem de Vos, the bacteria found in a baby’s gut and that found in the mother’s private parts differ.

Accordingly, researchers have looked towards a fecal-oral transfer during delivery as the source of the microbiomes found in the guts of babies. It’s this situation that de Vos and his research team set out to prove in this ground-breaking research.

The study fed newborns breast milk that had small amounts of their mother’s feces to replicate the process of bacteria transfer. Afterward, they tracked the excrement of the babies to follow-up on their microbiome development for three weeks. The research involved 7 mothers and their C-section babies. Their microbiomes were compared to that of 29 naturally delivered babies and 18 untreated C-section babies.

Feeding C-Section Babies Their Mom’s Poop Gives Them Healthy Guts, Study Says
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Image: Shutterstock

At the end of the 3-week monitoring period, the treated babies had developed microbiomes similar to that of the naturally-delivered babies. This development was unexpected because it takes C-section babies a year to get their guts up to speed. Additionally, for three months, the treated-babies didn’t develop any adverse health conditions.

The results of this new research are promising, although there’s still a need for more extensive and comprehensive studies to prove the effectiveness of the procedure. Also, to determine the right amount of poop C-section babies need to ingest to develop healthy microbiomes. As such, no one should try it on their babies yet.

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