Scheduled Cesarean? Swab & Suck

Establishing a newborn’s gut flora and the development of his or her immune system almost seems like a slam-dunk to me. However, I saw a handful of pregnant women that quickly reminded me that an infant’s gut bacteria flora is hardly a hot topic conversation.
I was reminded today that the nutrition of newborns in our country is hardly within focus.

Nutrition directly affects your immune system. Poor nutritient consumption can lead to a vast array of issues from developmental issues, allegry/asthma related, IBS, headaches, and a number of other ailments. There is no better way to lay the foundation of your newborn’s gut flora than with bacteria from a mother’s vaginal canal and through breast milk. However, it seems as though our country has forgotten to put that on a billboard or in a movie somewhere.

Allowing the baby to enter the world via the vaginal canal sets the baby up for greater success nutritionally and developmentally. That’s a win in my books.

Here are articles to support this idea:

• Babies Born By Cesarean Section May Not Gain Benefits of Vaginal Microbiome
• C-section Babies Missing Crucial Get Bacteria, Study Finds
• Science and Sensibility: Unintended Consequences
• The Connection Between Dirty Diapers and Childhood Health

BUT, not everything thing can go as planned. That’s where the “Swab & Suck” method comes into play. If your baby is born via cesarean section, then perhaps you may want to take a swab of your vaginal canal. Once you have the swab, you can rub it on your breasts so that your baby born via c-section is exposed to a similar bacteria environment as if were born vaginally. This is a great alternative method to expose the new born to good bacteria except it rarely every mentioned.

Swab & Suck!