By day seven, vaginally-born babies tended to have either B.longum or B.brevae in their digestive tracts, while babies born via C-section were more likely to be colonised by E. faecalis. The gut microbiome of vaginally born babies tended to match that of their mothers, confirming that bacteria are passed mostly from the mother’s gut, not her vagina. Meanwhile, babies born via C-section had more bacteria associated with hospital environments.
“E. faecalis is a bacteria that’s associated with opportunistic infection. So if your immune system is not working very well, it can cause disease,” says Field.
The researchers found the differences in gut bacteria between vaginally-born and caesarean-delivered babies largely evened out by the time the infant turned one. However, there were signs that having good bacteria from day one gave babies a health advantage. The team tracked over 1,000 of the babies to see if any were admitted to hospital.
“We were able to see that babies whose guts were dominated by B. longum were about half as likely to be admitted for a respiratory tract infection within the first two years of life, when compared to the B. brevae babies and the E. faecalis babies,” says Field.
In other words, having B. longum seemed to protect some vaginally-born infants from respiratory conditions. It’s possible that the absence of beneficial gut bacteria like B.longum could explain why babies born via C-section have a slightly elevated risk of developing certain inflammatory conditions such as asthma, allergies, autoimmune disorders and obesity, although more work is needed to confirm this.
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