Unpalatable power drink for babies should not be poo-pooed

Scientists have come up with a drastic and highly controversial measure to boost the immunity of newborns delivered by C-section - and it involves breast milk and poo.

Scientists have come up with a drastic and highly controversial measure to boost the immunity of newborns delivered by cesarean.

Researchers have found that diluting a small amount of the mother’s faeces into the breast milk for the first feed after birth is safe and boosts the belly bacteria in the tots to the same levels as babies delivered vaginally.

Infants delivered by surgery have an increased risk of developing asthma and allergies as they don’t get exposed to the microbiota from the mother as they would in a vaginal birth.

The new study is published in the journal Cell.

“From a clinical point of view, this transfer of microbial material is happening during a vaginal delivery,” co-senior author Sture Andersson, of the paediatric Research Center at the University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital in Finland said.

“This is a gift the mother gives to her baby,” he said.

The researchers emphasise that this is not something mothers should try on their own. The samples have to be tested for safety and suitability.

At birth, the immune system is undeveloped but once a baby begins living in the outside world, their immune system matures in response to microbial exposure. Although every person’s microbiota is individualised, the overall patterns of which bacteria types colonise the gut are different in babies born vaginally and those born by C-section. These variations appear to make a difference in how the immune system learns to respond to outside stimuli, including potential allergens.

The author said that even though the research seems “unpalatable” mothers were motivated to take place.

At least 35 per cent of babies in the country are born via C-section.

Dr Kirsten Small a Queensland obstetrician/gynaecologist said this research is in early stages but is interesting.

“Not all mothers would have healthy gut bacteria so it wouldn’t be a good idea in these cases. Scientists would need to do a lot more testing in this area to make sure it’s safe and effective. It’s certainly not something mothers should consider doing themselves .

“Mothers who have their babies via c-section are routinely given antibiotics so that will lessen bacteria exposure to baby” said the doctor, who is part of the Transferring Maternity Care Collaborative.