How changing gut bacteria may be contributing to the rise in chronic diseases

Over the last 40 years the rates of non-communicable diseases have risen sharply, one theory as to why this might be is gaining huge support in the scientific community and it is that the changes in our inherited microbiota (gut bacteria) is making us sick.

In pregnancy the mother's bacteria change, firstly to help her extract enough energy from food to grow her baby, then to get ready to pass on to the baby a wealth of inherited bacterial information. This 'seeding of the microbiome' is vital to baby's long term health and well being as it trains the immune system to recognise friend from foe in a bacterial world.

How babies are born and how they are fed is key in terms of how this crucial training takes place. Making sure you have the microbiome in mind at birth and in early life is a hugely important step in giving baby the best start, but the quality of the microbes passed down potentially being altered with each generation of babies as humans change how we are born and how we are fed. [This isn't an exercise in guilt, my eldest needed to be born by caesarean, but if I knew then what I know now I'd have done more to protect his microbiome at the time - knowledge is power]

If you are a birth worker or breastfeeding counsellor/ worker then come on our one day workshop all about the Microbiome at birth and in early life (now RCM accredited) http://microbirth.com/workshops/

If you are a parent to be ask your antenatal teacher about the microbiome at birth and how to make sure the seeding takes place as well as possible.

For more about the inheritability of our microbes take a look at this interesting article: https://www.nature.com/articles/nri.2017.77.epdf