Scientists have discovered an innovative approach to establishing healthy gut microbiota in cesarean-born infants: supplementing breast milk with a small amount of carefully processed maternal fecal matter. This ‘poo-milkshake’ concept aims to replicate the natural bacterial transfer that occurs during vaginal delivery, a critical process that may help prevent various immune and metabolic disorders during childhood and later in life.
The study, which was presented at ID Week Los Angeles, California, is the first randomized controlled trial to test the ‘poo-milkshake’ concept. Some studies have proven that babies born by c-section are more susceptible to diseases like digestive inflammation, asthma, and other immune-related diseases due to the lack of maternal microflora. ‘Vaginal seeding’, is a technique that was used to deal with this which included swabbing babies born with c-sections with microbes from their mother’s vagina. But it had limited success rates.
While conducting the clinical trials, scientists used a mixture of mother’s stool (around 3.5 gms) and milk for the first feeding. Study subjects were divided into control and test groups. Initial analysis showed that both groups had similar microbial diversity in the beginning. However, by the second day, significant differences were observed between the two groups, which persisted for 6 months.
Given the success of the pilot study, “it isn’t surprising that maternal fecal microbiota transplantation would make a difference to the c-section infant microbiota” in the latest trial, Shao says.
The procedure must be carried out in a controlled clinical environment as the fecal matter might contain pathogens that could cause disease. It is important to perform extensive screening before selecting the study population in a controlled environment.
This research suggests that controlled maternal fecal transplants could help develop healthy microflora in c-section infants. Scientists have concluded that this approach might not be beneficial for all c-section-born babies. Thus, extensive research needs to be conducted to identify the most effective microbes and confirm long-term benefits.
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