Infant microbiota: it’s up to you, dads!
Women keep telling us so: fathers have an important role to play in their children’s lives. Science 1 has now shown that this also applies to their children’s microbiota: while mothers pass on part of their flora during childbirth, fathers provide the other half. This transfer is all the more important when the child is born by c-section, where maternal flora is lacking.
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This is one of the downsides of c-sections: since the baby is not born vaginally, it has no time to taste (literally!) its mother’s vaginal and fecal bacteria. While this “meal” may seem unappetizing at first glance, it is nonetheless essential to the development of the child and its microbiota. Some even believe that the increased incidence of autoimmune diseases, asthma, and obesity in children born by c-section may be due to the fact that, deprived of this royal feast, newborns extracted from their mother’s womb via c-section may not receive all the good bacteria needed for their immune and neurological development. This is a serious concern, considering that one in four children is born by c-section.
Fathers are the solution
Research has therefore been looking for solutions, including the transfer of vaginal flora from mother to child: within two minutes of birth, the child’s mouth, face, and body are swabbed with a gauze previously placed in the maternal vagina. However, the results have not lived up to expectations.
1/4 Cesarean deliveries currently account for over a quarter of births worldwide ¹
60% of women are unaware that the mode of delivery can affect the gut microbiota of newborns. ²
Fortunately, research published in mid-2024 suggests a much easier solution: fathers. In fact, while the mother is the primary provider of gut flora in the child’s first days, the father (and all relatives) also plays a role, and more and more as the months go by.
By the child’s first birthday, the father’s contribution has even become equal to that of the mother. This has a major advantage: whereas maternal bacterial donations depend on the mode of delivery, the father represents a stable source. Another advantage is that paternal and maternal bacteria are distinct, with the two complementary sources building a solid microbiota for the newborn.
Fecal microbiota transfer and probiotics
The team went even further, proposing additional boosts to newborns’ gut flora. Gone are the days of gauze laden with mothers’ vaginal microbiota: a transfer of maternal fecal flora appears to be far more effective in ensuring that a child born by c-section quickly builds up a healthy gut flora, capable of resisting the onslaught of pathogens.
Moreover, nature’s intricate design ensures that the bacteria that take hold are mainly those capable of breaking down the sugars in breast milk. These strains may be developed in future probiotics to boost the flora of very young babies.
