Negative Influences on Microbial communities in Mother and Infant:
- Preterm birth: This is when an infant if born before thirty-seven weeks. This can be very bad for the infant if it is born way before the due date because it will not have the viable expose to microbes that it needs in life. Preterm birth can be caused by the microbial communities within the vagina that stimulate your body to give birth(1). Usually, a healthy microbial life provides support for the vagina against inflammation, which causes labor.
- Mother has gestational diabetes mellitus or gestational hypertension. These two factors play a huge role in the microbial life of the infant. This is because both of these factors can influence the delivery date of the baby. Not only could these increase the chances that the child is born too early (not getting the right types of microbial communities needed in the real world) but they hypertension also can become an issue for the baby(1). This increases the chance of the infant having a high BMI, which has an influence on the type of microbes that grow within their bodies.
- Gestation Weight Gain: Although there is always an expected amount of weight gain with every pregnancy (roughly 20-35 lbs), the gaining of too much weight has the potential of causing negative outcomes on the infant(1). Large amounts of weight gain lead to higher rates of premature birth. Infants also have a higher chance of weight gain themselves, which alters the gut microbial health within their body systems.
- Use of antibiotics during pregnancy: The purpose of antibiotics is to treat a bacterial infection. During pregnancy, this can negatively alter the infant’s microbial communities by killing bacteria that they need. This can lead to higher chances of asthma and type 1-diabetes(2).
References:
- Corwin J, Dunlop A, Dunn A, Edwards S, Ferranti E, Mulle J. 2015. The Maternal Microbiome and Prganxy Outcomes that Impact Infant Health: A Review. Adv Netonatal Care. 15(6) 377-385
- Bakacs E, Combellick J, Domingeuz-Bello M, Grigoryan Z, Mueller N. 2014. The Infant microbiome Development: Mom Matters. Trends Mol Med. 21(2): 109-117.
