Neonatal Microbiome: Vaginal vs C-Section Delivery

Another type of Maternal Inheritance that carries across generations of mothers. PREMIUM CONTENT subscriber access

Mamas provide beneficial microbes to their babes. Maternal symbiont transmission is ancient and evolutionarily advantageous. It is universal across the animal kingdom.

Exposure to microbes in the womb is a part of human pregnancy. Dogma states that the placental barrier keeps infants sterile throughout pregnancy, but an infant's initial inoculum is provided by its mother before birth and is supplemented by maternal microbes through birthing and breastfeeding.

And this ‘familial microbiome’ carries across generations of mothers - unique to families, tribes, ethnicities. [kinda like a sourdough starter]

Sources of microbial transmission in humans from mother to child.

Cut-away diagram highlighting the various internal and external sources of maternal microbial transmission as well as the species that are commonly associated with transfer from those regions. Regions discussed include the oral cavity, the mammary glands, the sebaceous skin surrounding the breast, the vaginal tract, and the intrauterine environment. Illustration by Robert M. Brucker. LJ Funkhouser, SR Bordenstein