As researchers are learning more about the importance of a healthy microbiome for long-term health, parents are doing everything they can to give their infants a good, bacteria-filled start to life. For moms who have to undergo a Caesarean section, that sometimes means trying vaginal seeding?a practice that involves swabbing the mom?s vagina with gauze, and then smearing it all over the baby?s body and mouth just after delivery in the hopes of passing on healthy microbes. But a new study suggests the practice might not be all that effective?and it may even be dangerous.
In recent years, researchers have found that the gut microbiome can help to determine a child?s risk of everything from asthma to obesity. And many theories have posited that an infant?s trip through the birth canal is the first chance to populate his gut with healthy bacteria?in what some call a ?bacteria baptism.?  .related-article-block{display:inline-block;width:300px;padding:0.5rem;margin-left:0.5rem;float:right;border:1px solid #ccc}@media (max-width: 525px){.related-article-block{float:none;display:block;width:280px;margin:0 auto 2rem}}

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But the new study on vaginal seeding, which reviewed existing research and was published in the journal Frontiers in Medicine, suggests that while vaginally born and Caesarean-delivered babies do have very different microbiomes, this difference is likely due to antibiotics that are administered before a C-section, n...