The magical feeling of love a baby establishes with her new parents isn't the only mysterious part of the childbirth. Research is being conducted on the microbiome of the colon of infants. In Canada, over 300 subjects were sampled for a study correlating the birthing method of Cesarian Sections and the child's risk of asthma (Arrieta et. al. 2015). The data has identified four bacterial genera (Lachnospira, Veillonella, Faecalibacterium, and Rothia) to be indicative of the child's risk of asthma: lower levels of these four, higher risk chances of asthma.
One way infants are exposed to microbes is through vaginal birth. Within the birthing canal, the first ones to welcome the little goober to this world are some well-meaning microbes. These bacteria are thought to help establish the beginnings of the colon population. In doing so, her immune system also begins to develop. The study further discussed a higher chance of microbial development with breastfeeding, as well as avoidance of antibiotics for mother and child. This gut population has what they call a "critical window" where the first 100 days of the child's life will shape her immune system (Neu et. al. 2011).
While C-sections are sometimes medically necessary, choosing this method out of convenience shouldn't be taken lightly.
Neu, J., & Rushing, J. (2011). Cesarean versus Vaginal Delivery: Long term infant outcomes and the Hygiene Hypothesis. Clinics in Perinatology, 38(2), 321–331. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.clp.2011.03.008
Arrieta, M., Stiesma, L., Dimitriu, P., et.al. (2015). Early infancy microbial and metabolic alterations affect risk of childhood asthma. Science Translational Medicine. doi:10.1126/scitranslmed.aab2271.
Stein, R. (2015, September 30). Missing Microbes Provide Clues About Asthma Risk. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
I wonder if there's a way you can transfer those "well-meaning microbes" to the child after birth in a similar fashion to how physicians used C. Diff in the patients who had their micro biome compromised by too many antibiotics? This is gross, but maybe a vaginal swab culture could be made and introduced in the a bottle of the mother's milk immediately after birth?
ReplyDeleteAlso, would there be a time limit? Does the child have to get those microbes within a certain time frame?
Yes, definitely a time frame has been established. The 100 days after birth is the most advantageous for an infant to bolster up his immune system through the microbiome. Additional sources the child may receive such microbes is the milk through breast feeding and, if possible, avoidance of heavy doses of antibiotics. The research has been sourced from case-studies, however, so some aspects of the "why" for the C-section may have been the method. Some complications of pregnancy could have further impact on the infant, thus not always telling a full story for those babies.
ReplyDeleteI recently learned about these kinds of microbiomes and this kind of research in another class. Different kinds of research are being done testing the advantages and disadvantages of delivering a baby vaginally compared to a C-section. There Is a ted talk done by Rob Knight that has super interesting information on microbes and how looking at the different kinds of microbes that we have in and around our body make us who we are. He specifically mentions in this ted talk the difference in microbes that babies are born with for vaginally delivered babies compared to C- section babies. He states that it could also be related to allergy and obesity in children that are born without the vaginal microbes. This is a link to his Ted Talk. http://www.ted.com/talks/rob_knight_how_our_microbes_make_us_who_we_are
ReplyDelete