Through Obstacles to the Stars – Path to Developing a Healthy Gut Microbiota in Children: What Blocks It and What Helps?
The gut microbiota is acquired by an individual during the first 2 years of life. The main source is the mother’s microbiota. Obstacles to the formation of an adequate microbiota include inappropriate composition of the mother’s microbiota, absence of vaginal birth and breastfeeding, as well as artificial feeding and antibiotic treatment in the child. We provide a summary of current findings on the adverse effects of planned cesarean sections on the child’s microbiome, as recently published in Critical Reviews in Microbiology.
Main Source of Microbiota and Obstacles to Its Transmission
The gut microbiota fulfills a number of important functions, such as digesting certain dietary components, synthesizing vitamins, modulating the immune system, and stimulating metabolic functions. The formation of the microbiota in early childhood also coincides with the physical and immunological development of the newborn, and it has been proven that alterations in its composition can predict the development of allergies, type 1 diabetes, and obesity, among other conditions.
The mother is the main source of microbiota. Modern lifestyle adversely affects the natural transmission of microbiota from mother to child. This is not only due to excessive hygiene and the use of antibiotics. The two main obstacles to this transmission are cesarean sections and artificial feeding.
Cesarean Section – Planned is Not the Same as Urgent
A cesarean section, utilized increasingly as an alternative to vaginal birth, bypasses the newborn’s passage through the birth canal, thereby preventing contact with the mother’s vaginal and fecal microbiota. However, other factors related to childbirth, such as rupture of membranes, also seem to play a significant role.
It has been shown that there is a difference between planned and emergency cesarean sections in this context. An urgent cesarean section shows similarities with vaginal birth because it occurs when labor has already started. After an emergency cesarean section, the child’s microbiota is richer and shows greater diversity compared to an elective cesarean section.
The microbiota of children born via cesarean section differs from those born vaginally up to early adulthood. It displays different microbial spectra, lower diversity, and slower maturation. Children born by cesarean section particularly lack strains from their mother’s intestinal microbiota. Artificial colonization of children after cesarean section by vaginal swab using gauze is not recommended due to inconsistent results and the risk of transferring infections.
It has also been found that after a cesarean section, the bacterial strains in breast milk differ throughout the breastfeeding period (from colostrum to the transition to solid food). A cesarean section is also associated with the use of antibiotics and delayed breastfeeding, which may further affect the transmission of microbiota from mother to child.
Impact of Breastfeeding on the Composition of the Child's Microbiota
Breastfeeding significantly influences the child's microbiota due to the presence of bacterial strains in breast milk and the child's contact with the mother’s skin. Lower microbiota diversity has been confirmed in children fed with formula. However, the colonization of a child's gut also depends on other factors such as the dose of potential colonizing bacteria, their diversity, activity, growth rate, and frequency of introduction, as well as the state of the existing microbiota of the child and the use of antibiotics.
Conclusion
The combination of childbirth methods and nutrition in the first years of life determines the composition of the child's microbiota in later life. This can have critical health implications lasting throughout the individual’s life.
Current knowledge enables the development of preventive and therapeutic measures to achieve a healthy microbiota. In addition to the clear preference for natural childbirth over cesarean sections and breastfeeding over formula feeding in situations where it’s feasible, these measures can include supplementation with probiotics for newborns and mothers. It has been proven that probiotic supplementation for newborns delivered by cesarean section or treated with antibiotics restores the normal composition and function of the gut microbiota.
(zza)
Source: Van Daele E., Knol J., Belzer C. Microbial transmission from mother to child: improving infant intestinal microbiota development by identifying the obstacles. Crit Rev Microbiol 2019 Sep-Nov; 45 (5−6): 613−648, doi: 10.1080/1040841X.2019.1680601.
Did you like this article? Would you like to comment on it? Write to us. We are interested in your opinion. We will not publish it, but we will gladly answer you.
