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bakersmt t1_ist5le3 wrote

Reply to comment by Petal_Chatoyance in How is the human gut microbiome established in infancy or earlier on? by molllymaybe

All of this. This is why cesarian births aren't optimal for the overall health of the baby. I did read somewhere about how one doctor was trying to remedy that situation by doing a quick swipe of birthing muck inside newborn nostrils and mouths when they are born cesarean. I don't remember if anything came of that though or if he proceeded to a testing phase etc.

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TheBetaBridgeBandit t1_istjml1 wrote

Yeah, it would seem that issues with cesarian births that are 'sterility-related' (i.e. skin/oral/gut microbiome composition) should be relatively easy to fix with artificial application of the relevant mucus/fluids/culture from the mother.

But as is the case with much of biology and medicine it may also turn out to be much more complicated than simply applying some vaginal mucus, placenta, or what-have-you.

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Tyrosine_Lannister t1_isuar2a wrote

Yeah it's...not well-supported by the literature. This suggests it's apparently more complicated than just the actual passage through the birth canal, too

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Zev0s t1_isvz9p4 wrote

I get what you're saying, but cesarean births are usually performed when the probable alternative is a stillbirth, in which case it is giving the optimal outcome.

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