Link between vaginal and babies’ microbiomes disproven

A new study from Canadian researchers has overturned the idea that the vaginal microbiome deeply affects babies’ gut microbiome. The supposed link has led to a process called vaginal seeding. Under the idea that babies’ gut flora is kickstarted by their exposure to the vaginal microbiome during vaginal births, some babies born by C-section had their faces, mouths and skin wiped with some of their mother’s vaginal fluids. (Even though this is done, it’s not recommended by obstetric and gynecological societies because it’s unproven, and there are safety concerns.) But the study, which was published in Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology, found that the transfer of vaginal bacteria wasn’t a significant factor in how babies'' microbiomes develop. It looked at 621 pregnant Canadians and collected maternal vaginal swabs before they gave birth and stool samples from their babies within their first three days of life, after 10 days, and after three months. Read: Oh baby! How a physician-led health tech enterprise is helping new parents—and lightening docs' loads The researchers found that both for people who gave birth through C-sections and those who gave birth vaginally, the maternal microbiome composition didn’t predict their babies’ stool microbiomes at 10 days or three months. “We show that the composition of the maternal vaginal microbiome does not substantially influence the infant stool microbiome in early life,” Dr. Deborah Money, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at UBC and the study’s senior author, said in a story on the university’s website. “It does not appear that exposure to maternal vaginal microbiota at the time of vaginal birth establishes the infant stool microbiome, suggesting that there is no rationale for vaginal seeding as a practice.” Instead, the researchers said, breast milk and environmental exposure likely also play a role, and intrapartum antibiotic administration, which happens more often during C-sections, might be a confounding factor that has confused the matter. Read: N.S. parents present petition calling for cannabis oil meds coverage for children

Link between vaginal and babies’ microbiomes disproven

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