The diet of a pregnant woman could affect the intestinal bacteria of her baby, suggests a study

What a pregnant woman eats during pregnancy could change the bacteria that inhabit the intestines of her baby, according to research.

The study adds to a growing body of evidence offering insights into the microbiome: the name given to the genetic makeup of microbes that populate the inside and outside of our body . Most of these estimated 100 trillion microbes live in our guts, and scientists believe that they play an important role in our overall health and risk of developing diseases.

The bacteria that make up the intestinal microbiome of a baby are therefore important for the development of its immune system and its overall health. The authors of the study published it in the newspaper Microbiome .

To highlight the potential link between a mother's diet and her baby's gut microbiome, researchers at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire recruited 145 six-week-old babies and their mothers .

Over a six-week period, stool samples were taken from infants to reveal bacteria living in their digestive system. Mothers, who are on average 32 years old, documented their individual diets in a questionnaire. Most were mothers for the first time. Factors that may affect the microbiome of an individual have also been noted. These include the fact that 66% of children are born vaginally; 70 percent more were breastfed at the age of six weeks; and the majority of children had not attended day care or taken antibiotics.