Should babies delivered by cesarean section receive a smear of germs from the mother’s vagina on their mouth, nose, or skin soon after birth? This controversial trend about pregnancy is known as “vaginal seeding” or “micropartum” and the idea is that babies have more defenses against disease.
The reason for this practice is that babies born by cesarean section have a higher risk of developing health problems in the future, such as allergies or asthma. It may be because babies delivered by cesarean section are not exposed to the types of maternal microbes that can positively influence their weak immune systems , unlike vaginal delivery.
I work as an immunologist and I am dedicated to the study of the microbiomes of the intestine. I am also the Scientific Director of the International Center for the Microbiome at the University of Calgary in Canada, where we investigate the impact of the trillions of bacteria in the human body that make up our microbiome on chronic disease.
Vaginal seeding has its advantages and disadvantages . The good news is that it could provide the baby with the maternal microbiomes that it normally receives in a vaginal delivery. The downside is that it could transmit bacteria that can be pathogenic or harmful to the baby.
Mother and baby share a microbial bond
The gut microbiome is made up of microbes, including bacteria, fungi, and viruses. The microbiome has many functions, including helping us digest food, protect against disease, and regulate immune function.
We know that the first 1,000 days of a baby are critical for their development and that a baby’s microbiota can be greatly affected by many factors, including whether the delivery was vaginal or by cesarean section.
This is because mother and baby share a microbial bond that can form even before delivery. An important step in the development of this bond occurs during labor when the baby’s skin, nose, and mouth receive microorganisms from the mother’s body .
This microbial connection may have an impact on development during infancy and influence the delicate balance between health and disease, although differences in delivery have not been shown to be relevant to long-term life.
Babies born by cesarean section lack beneficial bacteria
[A recent study on the microbiome of newborns] [10] showed signs that babies delivered vaginally gain a different microbiome than those delivered by cesarean section. This could help us explain why some children do not have as strong an immune system as other children .
The babies born by cesarean section in this study were missing strains of commensal (good) bacteria normally found in healthy people. They were also found to have obtained harmful microbes that are often present in the hospital environment.
The first bacteria to enter a newborn should come from the mother’s gut and vagina rather than from the skin or hospital environment, especially considering that bacteria from hospitals can be an unwanted source of resistance. antimicrobial.
An alarming study on antimicrobial resistance in Canada recently put on notice that the percentage of treatment-resistant bacterial infections is estimated to grow to 40 percent by 2050 from 26 percent in 2018, something that could cost Canada 396,000 lives and hundreds of billions of dollars.
However, there are many factors to consider and changing the initial microbial exposure is only one difference between a natural delivery and a cesarean section. There is a possible risk that vaginal seeding can transmit infections such as group B strep, HIV, and chlamydia.
It is also clear that not all babies born by cesarean will develop illnesses in the future such as allergies or asthma.
Better to breastfeed
There were 104,349 cesarean deliveries in Canada between 2017 and 2018, compared to 103,000 the previous year. Cesarean delivery is at the top of all types of hospital surgery, even as the birth rate is declining, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information.
There are no data to show the extent of practices related to vaginal seeding in Canada, although it has been a known practice in the United States for several years.
In the United States, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists published a series of recommendations in 2017 warning of the risks of this practice until it has been further studied.
I also wouldn’t recommend resorting to vaginal seeding (except in research cases) until we have more information on the long-term effects.
Author: Kathy McCoy , Professor, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary.
This article was originally published on The Conversation. You can read the original article here
Translated by Silvestre Urbón
Photos | iStockphoto
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