{"id":25216,"date":"2020-10-03T07:57:40","date_gmt":"2020-10-03T07:57:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bengalnewstimes.com\/?p=25216"},"modified":"2020-10-03T07:57:40","modified_gmt":"2020-10-03T07:57:40","slug":"a-bit-of-moms-poop-might-boost-health-of-c-section-babies-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bengalnewstimes.com\/?p=25216","title":{"rendered":"A Bit of Mom’s Poop Might Boost Health of C-Section Babies: Study"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"NewsBy Amy Norton<\/b>
HealthDay Reporter<\/i><\/p>\n

THURSDAY, Oct. 1, 2020 (HealthDay News)<\/p>\n

Delivering by cesarean section deprives babies<\/a> from receiving mom’s beneficial bacteria during the journey through the birth canal. Now researchers are studying an innovative way to counter that: Feeding newborns breast milk<\/a> fortified with their mother’s poop.<\/p>\n

There is, indeed, a yuck factor, the scientists acknowledge. But they also stress<\/a> that the tactic, still under study, is done through a carefully controlled, hygienic process. And mothers seem to be all for it.<\/p>\n

The research, described in the Oct. 1 issue of Cell<\/i>, is part of a growing interest in the microbiome — the vast collection of bacteria and other microbes that naturally dwell in and on the body.<\/p>\n

Studies in recent years have been revealing just how important those bugs are to the body’s normal processes — from metabolism to immune defenses to brain function.<\/p>\n

And there’s evidence that the way a baby is delivered could have critical effects on the composition of the early-life microbiome.<\/p>\n

Vaginal childbirth<\/a> exposes newborns to the beneficial microbes in the birth canal, but C-sections bypass that process. In turn, studies have found that babies<\/a> born by cesarean tend to have different microbiomes than babies born vaginally.<\/p>\n

Those differences can be seen out to one year of age, said Dr. Martin Blaser, a professor and chairman of the human microbiome at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in Piscataway, N.J.<\/p>\n

“Things do normalize, but for a while the microbiome is abnormal,” said Blaser, who was not involved in the new study.<\/p>\n

Children born by C-section<\/a> tend to have higher risks for conditions like asthma<\/a>, allergies<\/a>, obesity<\/a> and type 1 diabetes<\/a>, Blaser said. And it’s thought that the early-life microbiome may play a role, by affecting immune system and metabolic development.<\/p>\n

In a small 2016 study, Blaser’s colleague and wife, Maria Dominguez-Bello, tested a way to “restore” a more-normal microbiome to C-section<\/a> babies: swabbing them with their mothers’ vaginal fluids right after birth.<\/p>\n

It seemed to work. One month later, the swabbed infants had microbial communities that were more similar to vaginally delivered babies’ than to those of other C-section babies.<\/p>\n

The new study took a different route to restoring the microbiome: diluting a mother’s fecal sample in breast milk<\/a>, and feeding it to her infant shortly after birth.<\/p>\n

Seven women provided the samples three weeks before undergoing a planned C-section. All were carefully screened for viruses<\/a> like hepatitis<\/a> and HIV<\/a>, and the fecal samples were tested for a range of bacterial infections<\/a> and parasites, according to co-senior researcher Dr. Sture Andersson.<\/p>\n

The breast milk was the mother’s own, or retrieved from a donor-milk bank.<\/p>\n

“This should only be performed under rigorously controlled conditions,” stressed Andersson, of the Pediatric Research Center at the University of Helsinki.<\/p>\n

Similar to the swabbing study, this one found that internally delivering moms’ microbes seemed to affect development of the newborns’ microbiome. At the age of 3 months, the babies’ microbial makeup<\/a> looked more like that of vaginally delivered babies than untreated C-section infants’.<\/p>\n

But the “big question,” Blaser said, is whether that will translate into future health benefits, like lower risks of asthma<\/a>, allergies<\/a> or obesity<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“That will take some time to show,” he said.<\/p>\n

As a next step, the Finnish researchers plan to study immune-system development in babies who receive the fortified breast milk. Unlike the current study, future ones will include a comparison group of C-section babies who will receive breast milk with no added fecal sample.<\/p>\n

Breastfeeding<\/a>, itself, helps in forming a healthy microbiome. It’s likely, Andersson said, that “some microbiome” was transferred by the breast milk, not only the fecal sample — and the two “may act in concert.”<\/p>\n

Blaser called the approach “rather ingenious,” but said it remains to be seen whether it is any more effective than the vaginal swabbing tactic.<\/p>\n


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QUESTION<\/h4>\n


\n Newborn babies don’t sleep very much.<\/span>
\n See Answer<\/span>
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He noted that in the United States, about one-third of births are done by C-section. Worldwide, Blaser said, C-section rates vary hugely by country — from percentages in the single digits to more than 50%.<\/p>\n

“How many of those C-sections are unnecessary?” Blaser questioned. “Because of the effects on the microbiome, there are consequences to it.”<\/p>\n

For now, the Finnish researchers stressed that their approach to microbiome restoration is not a do-it-yourself technique. The samples “have to be tested for safety and suitability,” they said.<\/p>\n

\"MedicalNews\"
Copyright \u00a9 2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n


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From \"WebMD<\/h3>\n
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Parenting and Newborn Resources<\/h5>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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Health Solutions From Our Sponsors<\/span><\/h5>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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References<\/p>\n


\n SOURCES: Sture Andersson, MD, PhD, professor, Pediatric Research Center, Helsinki University Hospital, University of Helsinki, Finland; Martin Blaser, MD, chairman, human microbiome, and professor, medicine and microbiology, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, N.J.; Cell<\/i>, Oct. 1, 2020, online \n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n