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crazyhadron t1_issahe1 wrote

It is mostly devoid of bacteria while in the womb, or the mother would be having a far worse time. A bacterial infection within a fetus that has no immune system, and where the mother's immune system cannot reach, but is still contained inside the mother's body? Talk about a nightmare.

So, the human microbiome is instantiated at the time of birth, while the baby is sliding out of the birth canal and vagina. They aren't exactly sterile, especially when outlets that shouldn't be leaking start leaking.

The next major source of inoculation is via breastfeeding. Breastmilk itself isn't sterile, and neither is the delivery vessel. All that ends up passing right though the stomach and lands within the intestines.

And you pick up other critters while eating, breathing, and generally living. They are everywhere, after all.

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moostar15 t1_issd1e7 wrote

I would like to add that our personal microbiome is not the same throughout our life. It changes according to what we eat, physical exercise, the environment in which we live in... ect. Also we share a similar microbiome with the people around us most of the time (es. cohabitants). So, after our birth, we receive a first colonization of bacteria that it will change with time.

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yukon-flower t1_issc0o3 wrote

> while the baby is sliding out of the birth canal and vagina. They aren't exactly sterile, especially when outlets that shouldn't be leaking start leaking.

They absolutely SHOULD be “leaking” during childbirth, by the way. I suppose you meant that they don’t normally leak when not performing certain special tasks.

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winoforever_slurp_ t1_issgkgy wrote

I’ve read about an idea that some doctors advocate for caesarean births - since the baby doesn’t get that journey out the birth canal, they put a cloth up the mother’s vagina for a while, then rub that cloth over the baby’s face to inoculate it with that biome. As far as I know this isn’t common, but it’s an interesting idea.

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Icy_Landscaped t1_issgc11 wrote

If a baby is born via c-section and then is bottle fed formula are they more likely to have stomach problems?

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SirButcher t1_ist096i wrote

Not neceserally: they still are in skin contact with the parents, and babies put EVERYTHING into their mouth, giving ample opportunities for microbes to start living in their guts.

Microbes are everywhere and our body has multiple "built-in" systems which help the good microbes to profalite. The gut microbiome is an ecosystem on its own, constantly changing and growing as our habits, environment, stress level, eating habits (and so much more) change while our immune system works hard to keep them in check and make sure they don't do anything which they shouldn't do.

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Spazzykins t1_ist5o5k wrote

Also somewhat important to note, that it still takes time to fully flourish and coat the GI system. This is why it is contraindicated for infants less than 1 year of age be fed honey. Honey isn't pasturized and there can still be clostridium bacteria which can attach to young GI systems causing floppy baby syndrome.

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Alpacaofvengeance t1_issu2dq wrote

Just to note that the uterus is not sterile - it contains its own flora, although it's not clear that this can cross the amniotic sac into the fetus's digestive tract.

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crazyhadron t1_ist4dm0 wrote

makes sense, it's partially open to the world for a few days every month, after all.

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