The most important thing to ever happen to your microbiome, the bacterial environment of the gut, happens when you’re being born.
Is your baby restless and colicky? Is your toddler irritable and not sleeping well? Is your small child already exhibiting symptoms of ADD? If you come into our shop and ask us a question about your baby or child, we will always ask you if your baby was a natural born baby or a Caesar baby…. And yes, it really matters…
Babies born vaginally get their first major dose of microbes from their mothers as they pass through the birth canal. These beneficial bacteria include Lactobacillus, which helps breakdown the lactose in milk to make energy. More Lactobacillus colonize the mother’s vagina as her due date nears, ready to be ingested by her baby and help it digest breast milk. Nature is so fantastic!
Babies delivered via C-section surgery get their first dose of microbes from their mothers’ skin and the skin of doctors and nurses in the delivery room. Research has shown that because C-section infants don’t get the bacteria their mothers evolved to give them, it will set these children on the road to poorer development in many areas.
Rectifying gut bacteria is an essential step in treating little people for whatever ails them – the a-z of children’s ailments should all start by re-inoculating the gut. As we move further into the 21st century, strain-specific bacterial treatments will become a normal protocol for Caesar-born infants. For now, the best we can do is try our best for natural birth. Should that plan go pear-shaped, intervening with probiotics at the earliest opportunity (like, say, day 1) is essential to the future health of the baby.