Gut bacteria in babies can be affected by delivery method, new research suggests.
Scientists discovered that infants born via Caesarean section were lacking much of the health-associated bacteria from their mothers than babies born naturally.
Instead, the babies born by C-section had more bacteria associated with hospital environments in their guts.
The Baby Biome study, conducted by researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, UCL, the University of Birmingham and their collaborators, stressed that the exact role of the baby’s gut bacteria remains unclear.
Whether these differences at birth will have any long-term consequences is also unknown. However, the research could help scientists create bacterial therapies.
Scientists found that the differences in gut bacteria between naturally born and Caesarean delivered babies largely evened out one year after birth.
Researchers examined 1, 679 samples of gut bacteria from 596 babies and 175 mothers for the study, which was published in Nature.
Faecal samples were taken from babies aged four days, seven days or 21 days, after they were delivered in UK hospitals naturally or by Caesarean.
The study revealed that there was a significant difference in gut bacteria between the two delivery methods, using DNA sequencing and genomics analysis.
It found that babies delivered naturally had many more health-associated bacteria from their mothers than babies who were born by Caesarean.
Dr Nigel Field, clinical associate professor at UCL, said: “Babies are sterile when they are in the womb.
” And the moment they are born is the moment when the immune system has a huge number of bacteria that is it presented with.
“And so the hypothesis is that that moment of birth might be a sort of thermostat moment which sets the immune system for future life. “
Research also shows that babies born by C-section have a slightly higher risk of immune-re
They also have a slightly higher risk of asthma, inflammatory bowel disease and other allergic conditions.
But experts from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists said that expectant mothers should not be put off from having a Caesarean birth
Dr Trevor Lawley, a senior author of the paper , said: “We discovered that the mode of delivery had a great impact on the gut bacteria of newborn babies, with transmission of bacteria from mother to baby occurring during vaginal birth.
” Further understanding of which species of bacteria help create a healthy baby microbiome [the micro-organisms in a the body] could enable us to create bacterial therapies. “
Professor Peter Brocklehurst of the University of Birmingham, who led the study, said: “The first weeks of life are a critical window of development of the baby’s immune system, but we know very little about it.
” We urgently need to follow up this study, looking at these babies as they grow to see if early differences in the microbiome lead to any health issues.
He added that further studies are needed to help und erstand the role of gut bacteria in early life.
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