There are several potential factors that the mother or the infant could be exposed to that could influence the colonization of the microbial community in the newborn infant in both a positive or negative way. The first couple of factors that come to mind are the use of probiotics and antibiotics as we’ve learned so much about the impact of both of these in this course. Studies show that probiotics two weeks before a woman gave birth via C-section exhibited a beneficial change in microbiota, boosting their child’s immune system to respond to commensal post birth. Based on further research, I didn’t initially see antibiotics have showing specifically harmful effects on pregnant women in any trimester of pregnancy or their infants. However, data has demonstrated the use of certain antibiotics lead to a decrease in Firmicutes and Lactobacillus with an increase in Proteobacteria and Enterobacter in their gut microbiome. It was cool to see these exact bacteria in research as we’ve seen these names show up in multiple previous scientific articles including the one testing a new probiotic multistrain. Antibiotics can also lower the diversity of the infant’s gut microbiota which could be of concern. The last factor I want to touch on that can influence colonization of the microbial community in the infant is diet. Diet plays a major role in the microbiota. For example, through research on google I have found studies indicating a high fat intake before/during pregnancy can shift the gut microbiota. Another example is when a newborn infant goes from drinking milk to eventually eating solid foods. This transition alters the infant’s diversity of microbiota species. Overall, there are several factors, a lot I did not touch on like the possible exposures in a hospital setting and during delivery. Some are good and some can be bad.
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