"There is a critical window of development." If, for some reason, an infant’s microbiome doesn’t develop with the right mix and amount of bacteria (because, for example, antibiotics for an infection wiped it out), it can’t provide the immune system with all the information it needs. The immune system needs signals from a wide variety of microbiota. Antibiotics can drastically reduce and alter an infant’s microbiome, setting them up for disease later in life.Īn infant’s microbiome communicates with their immune system, sending molecular signals to help set up or "program" the immune system to protect them and keep them healthy for the rest of their life.A baby starts developing a microbiome at birth. “As it’s developing, it’s quite heavily influenced by the environment.” Things to remember: “Diet, exposure to the mother, early life antibiotics - all of these put a lot of pressure or changes on the microbiota,” explains McCoy. Kathy McCoy, PhD, professor in the Cumming School of Medicine and director of the WCMC. “Babies born through a vaginal birth have microbiota that resembles their mother’s vaginal microbiota, whereas babies born by caesarean section have microbiota that often looks more like a skin microbiota,” says Dr. Within the first hour of its life, a baby can be exposed to a billion bacteria. During birth, a baby moves from a sterile environment in utero, down the birth canal where he or she is exposed to and colonized with their mother’s microbiota. The microbiome starts developing at birth and continues to change until about age three.
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