What You Eat During Pregnancy Can Change Your Baby's Bowel • Earth.com



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A new study published by BioMed Central revealed that a woman's diet during pregnancy has an impact on the microbial content of her baby's gut. The researchers also found that this effect may vary depending on the method of administration.

"Our study demonstrates an association of an easily modifiable factor, maternal diet, with the infant intestinal microbiome," said lead author Sara Lundgren's study. "This knowledge can be the key to developing evidence-based dietary recommendations for pregnant and lactating women."

Lundgren and his team at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center analyzed intestinal microbiomes of infants at six weeks of age and found that they consisted mainly of Enterobacteriaceae, Bifidobacterium, Bacteroides and Streptococcus.

Of the 97 newborns that had been delivered vaginally, the researchers identified three distinct groups of intestinal microbes. Group 1 contained an abundance of Bifidobacterium, Group 2 had high levels of Streptococcus and Clostridium, and Group 3 had an abundance of Bacteroides.

For 48 babies delivered by caesarean section, the composition of these clusters was very different.

The results of the study also suggest a link between maternal diets and intestinal microbiomes in infants. When mothers ate more fruit and had a vaginal delivery, Bifidobacterium was found in the lower levels. On the other hand, this bacterium was found at higher levels in babies born by cesarean section when mothers consumed more red meat and processed it.

According to the analysis, the odds of being in Group 2 were 2.73 times higher for each additional daily portion of fruit consumed by mothers who had a vaginal delivery. The odds of being in Group 2 were 2.36 times higher for each additional serving of dairy products when babies were delivered by caesarean section.

"We analyzed infants vaginally and by caesarean section in separate groups because of our previous knowledge. maternal microbiota transfer to infants that occurs during vaginal delivery, but not with caesarean delivery, "said Lundgren

" We expected different results depending on the mode of delivery. " 39, childbirth, but we were surprised to find were increased in association with maternal consumption of a food group in one mode of delivery, but decreased in the other group mode of delivery. ;delivery. "

The researchers pointed out that this study is strictly observational and has some limitations: for example, it focused only on mothers and infants in northern New England, which has a relatively homogeneous population. also explained that the effect identified by their analysis may be influenced by the feeding of the mother during lactation.

The study is published in the journal Microbiome ]

By Chrissy Sexton Earth.com Staff Writer

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