Some scientific studies have indicated that humans born by cesarean section have a higher risk of developing diseases associated with a dysfunctional immune system. Researchers believe that the first contact with microbes in the mother’s vagina and intestines probably strengthens the baby’s body, making it more resistant.
Attempts to compensate for this phenomenon are varied and controversial. The most famous technique is ‘vaginal seeding’, which orally supplies neonates with a small part of the microbes that inhabit their mothers’ vaginal cavity. Despite repeated testing, seeding has not proven to be an effective way to boost babies’ immune systems. Microbes simply do not colonize the digestive tracts of newborns well.
“Stool shakes” for babies born by cesarean section
Research led by the Finnish Institute of Health and Welfare proposes an alternative measure. They suggest implementing fecal transplants in boys and girls born by cesarean section. To do this, they designed a “stool shake,” a preparation that combines milk with a small amount of the mother’s feces. According to their report, only a small amount of external fecal matter is enough to achieve the long-awaited microbial colonization that should originally occur during vaginal delivery.
In their latest trial, Finnish scientists tested a liquid with 3.5 milligrams of feces and gave it to 15 babies born by cesarean section as their first feeding. Additionally, there were 16 other newborns who received a placebo “stool shake” as a control group.
In the first analyses, both groups of neonates showed similar microbial diversity at birth. After the second day of life, with the shake already in their bodies, the differences were clear. Over the next six months, Babies who were fed the preparation had better microbial diversity compared to the group that took the placebo. Details of their research were presented at IDWeek, a meeting of infectious disease specialists.
Research on stool transfer will continue over the patients’ first two years. During this time, the team will evaluate the health of the study participants to see if there has been a substantial change. The team remains optimistic, since in previous and smaller pilot studies it was concluded that the babies developed in a similar way to those born by vaginal delivery.
Although the results are promising, People should not try to imitate the procedure at home.. Treatments with stool transplants in newborns are still being studied to identify all possible repercussions. In this Finnish experiment, only 30 mothers were accepted out of a total of 90 candidates. “You have to make sure that the fecal matter given to the newborn does not include pathogens that could cause disease,” said Otto Helve, principal investigator of the study.
In any case, the “stool shake” treatment seems to have only a positive function in large groups. Its general supply could have a long-term impact on the rate of asthma or inflammatory diseases. For the specific case of children born by cesarean section, the results could be barely visible.
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