C-Section Babies May Soon Get Mom's Good Bacteria Missed Due to Surgery: Researchers

A group of researchers is trying to give C-section babies a dose of good bacteria from mom's birth canal. Missing out the mom's protective bacteria is linked to various chronic health problems later in life.

The microbes picked up from mothers while exiting the womb creates protective shield for newborns, reports Reuters. During vaginal birth, microbes present in the birth canal settle over the newborn's skin, mouth and gut forming so-called microbiomes. These maternal bacteria are believed to boost the baby's immune system, help metabolism processes and boost brain development.

However caesarean delivery and other disruptors of developing microbiomes have been linked to increased risks for asthma, allergies, obesity and immune deficiencies. To reverse the effects, scientists from the University of Puerto Rico led by microbiologist Maria Gloria Dominguez-Bello are trying out if they can restore mom's good bacteria to C-section babies.

Sacramento Bee reports that, by simply smearing the newborn babies with their mom's vaginal fluid within two minutes of birth, they hope to possibly expose these babies with microbes. Since all of the C-sections were scheduled, researchers were able to place gauze in the mother's vagina for an hour before the surgery. The babies were then wrapped in the gauze right after birth.

Researchers compared seven babies born normally and 11 born by scheduled C-section. Four babies were smeared with the mom's bacteria right after birth. Over the next month, researchers took more than 1,500 samples of different body sites to check how newborns' developing microbiomes.

After tracking the babies and their microbiomes for a month, the researchers found that the quick smear partially restored normal microbiome development similar to infants born through vaginal birth. Notably, the specially exposed C-section babies had early enrichments of Lactobacillus and Bacteroides bacteria which is lacking in untreated surgically-born babies.

However, researchers admit there are limitations to their study. The number of babies in the pilot study is very small. Mores so, there were less difference in anal microbes in the four untreated babies compared to other body sites. This suggests that the gut may have been less affected compared to other parts of the body since the bacteria was not ingested unlike in vaginal birth.

Ars Technica reports that, although the work is extremely preliminary, it opens up new avenues for exploration. The next step is for the researchers to find out if the process translates to a better health years later.

Dominguez-Bello started the pilot study at the University of Puerto Rico, however it has now expanded in New York University. They now currently have 84 babies enrolled to test their microbiomes after a year. She has 13,000 samples waiting to be analyzed if she can find the funding.

To know more about micobiomes, check out the video from NPR: