Sep 20, 2019
Vidcast: https://youtu.be/GIM0xl8Rs10
Babies delivered by C-section rather than by a normal vaginal route develop a gastrointestinal bacterial population contaminated by bad bugs found around the hospital. Their gut bacteria include antibiotic-resistant ones rather than the more benign species found in their mothers.
British researchers studied 600 healthy babies to identify their gut bacteria using DNA fingerprinting techniques. The C-section babies had more than 800 potentially-dangerous bacteria, of the type that cause life-threatening, blood-borne infections in hospitalized patients.
These observations mandate that C-sections be avoided except for life-threatening situations. Elective c-sections for convenience are foolish and unnecessarily risky.
Yan Shao et al. Stunted gut microbiota and increased pathogen colonisation associated with caesarean birth. Nature #2019 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1560-1
#Caesariansection #microbiome #antibioticresistantbacteria