Becoming a mother is a task full of responsibility, and among these taking care of the body in order to give more health to the unborn child. The results of a study published in the journal Cell Host and Microbe suggest that even the maternal microbiome is very important, as it is transmitted directly from the first moments of life, in the various stages of natural birth, breastfeeding and contact “Skin to skin”.
The microbiome is “the set of genetic heritage and environmental interactions of the totality of the micro-organisms of a defined environment”. More and more scientific evidence points out that the balance of bacterial flora is crucial in several aspects.
A new piece, although still to be explored with further research, has now been placed by this study, coordinated by the Center for Integrated Biology of the University of Trento in collaboration with the Santa Chiara Hospital of Trento, which evaluated 25 couples mom/baby.
Thanks to new techniques, including bioinformatics, the microorganisms that make up the microbiome have been identified, and their transmission has been mapped during the first days and months of life in the newborn. It should be emphasized that each person is characterized not only by the genetic inheritance inherited from the parents but also by the microbiome, composed of numerous bacteria, viruses, and fungi that populate the body, which can potentially assist the state of health or expose to certain diseases.
Its mapping is now possible thanks to metagenomics, a biotechnological method that from a person’s feces, saliva, or cutaneous or vaginal swabs (in this case the mother and the newborn) allows tracing the micro-organisms present through the sequencing of their genetic material and computer analysis of data.
It emerged that bacteria from the mother colonize the newborn more permanently than those from other sources (such as the surrounding environment).
This is an important piece of information, valuable for better understanding the microbiome acquisition process, its impact on the health of the child, and the role of natural childbirth, breastfeeding and skin-to-skin contact.
It has been seen that all the microbiomes sampled from the different locations of the mother’s body contribute directly to the development of the microbiome of the newborn. Furthermore, it is easier for these microorganisms to remain stably than those acquired from other sources. Mom, attention to the balance of bacterial flora
It is, therefore, a new and important responsibility of the mother to take care of herself, and in particular of the balance of her own bacterial flora.
It should also be kept in mind that some conditions, such as antibiotic therapies or stress, can alter it.
Pregnancy can be a time of tension and worry, and psychological stress can particularly reduce the presence of lactobacilli, good bacteria that colonize not only the intestinal tract but also the vaginal tract. Integrating the diet with probiotics and prebiotics can be a healthy habit both to achieve general well-being and to safeguard the balance of one’s bacterial flora.
The prebiotics are also important, which are fundamental to favor the balance of the “good” intestinal bacterial flora
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