Microbiome, Probiotics & Gut Nutrition

There are two ways by which a baby can come into this world: vaginally or by Cesarean delivery.   The vast majority of our critical gut microbiome bacteria from our mothers during birth and breastfeeding. The method of delivery impacts the baby’s microbiome, with vaginal delivery (VD) having a strong, beneficial effect and cesarean delivery (CD) reducing the number and diversity of beneficial bacteria.  Cesarean delivery poses a health risk for newborns by way of changes in the gut microbiota there microbial species or genera that are uniformly present in all vaginally delivered infants and uniformly absent in all Cesarean‐born. The infant’s gut microbiome is of critical importance since its bacteria build and strengthen baby’s immune system. The microbiomes of babies born via vaginal delivery (VD) and via cesarean delivery (CD) are different, due to the different microbiomes they are receiving from their mother and their physical environment, during a vaginal birth, the baby receives maternal vaginal, intestinal and fecal bacteria present in the birth canal; these bacteria are augmented with bacteria from mother’s skin, oral and breast milk microbiomes through holding, kissing and breastfeeding. Scientists speculate this may account for the increased long-term risk and incidence of chronic, non-communicable diseases (including allergies, asthma, obesity and autoimmune diseases) among babies born via cesarean section.