Much of a newborn child’s microbial community has to do with their mother. When a child is in the womb it receives nutrients from it’s mother but also gets certain antibodies and microbes as well. When the child is born it gets similar things from breastfeeding so whatever the mother is consuming also has an effect on the child. Some factors the mother could be exposed to that affect the newborn’s microbial community include alcohol, smoking, or perhaps things that have a positive effect like probiotics. The newborn could also be exposed to certain factors if the mother uses a bottle that leaks chemicals into breast milk or in certain temperatures, microbial communities could grow. Something else interesting to think about in terms of breast feeding is how clean the mother is. If a child is breast feeding and ingests harmful bacteria, that could affect it’s microbial communities. Overall, there are a lot of factors that can influence a newborn’s microbial communities and much of that has to do with its mother.
