Positive – The baby needs to be exposed to the world and live in the world for it’s own immune system to be able to learn and adapt to the microbial environment surrounding it. So, in that sense, the sooner the better. For the mother, her resources were given priority to the baby while she was pregnant, so this is a good time for her microbial environments to return to normal. Once the baby has birthed, her body will begin to do that.
Negative – A new baby and momma are fragile creatures. We take great care to ensure they are both safe while recovering from the birth episode. The baby has a new immune system and very much relies on the mother’s immunity, mainly through the milk. The mother has been compromised because she is healing from birth and also her body rerouted her resources for months to the developing baby. They both need time to recover and (in the mother’s case) rebuild their own resources.
