We know that breastfeeding is the best food we can give a baby during its first months of life, due to the large number of benefits that breast milk provides for its health, and of which more are being discovered every day.
Now, new research has found that certain bacteria in the gut flora are transferred through the mother’s breast milk , and that the baby feeds directly from the mother’s breast is better for this process, rather than expressing the milk and offer it in the bottle.
Published in the journal Cell Host & Microbe , the study carried out by researchers from the University of British Columbia and the University of Manitoba in Canada, analyzed the microbiota of the feces of 1,249 babies and their mothers’ milk, finding that the bacteria that form the intestinal flora are transferred through breast milk .
According to the researchers, this is the first study to analyze and evaluate the association between the various breastfeeding practices, bacteria and components in milk , with the composition of the baby’s microbiota at different points in their first year of life.
It was found that certain bacteria of the intestinal flora, such as Streptococcus and Veillonella, co-occur in breast milk and in the feces of babies, and that this co-occurrence is greater when they are breastfed directly from the breast , as when extracting milk and giving it in a bottle loses some of those bacteria.
The researchers comment that this study proves that breast milk works as an incubator that enriches, protects and transports certain bacteria to the baby’s intestinal tract , proving once again the benefits of breastfeeding for the baby, which is why it is important continue to promote and respect it.
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Via | News Medical
In Babies and more | They discover a compound in breast milk capable of fighting pathogenic bacteria without destroying the beneficial ones, Mothers also benefit from breastfeeding: seven advantages of breastfeeding your baby
