C-Sections, Let The Bacteria Decide

In the United States roughly 30% of babies are born via c-section. In China that number is around 50%. As babies around the world are delivered via c-section ever more frequently, health professionals are looking closer at some of the possible risks of non-traditional methods of delivery. A study coming from a team of scientists from Puerto Rico, Colorado and Venezuela reveals that newborns are exposed to drastically different bacteria depending on whether they are born vaginally or by c-section. “These differences we are seeing in this study might be related with increased health risks in C-section babies, although more research is needed,” explained co-lead study author Maria Dominguez-Bello of the University of Puerto Rico. “In a sense, the skin of newborn infants is like freshly tilled soil that is awaiting seeds for planting — in this case bacterial communities,” said Fierer of CU-Boulder’s ecology and evolutionary biology department. “The microbial communities that cluster on newborns essentially act as their first inoculation.” As further studies are produced many people are watching to see whether or not further evidence against the safety of c-sections materializes.

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