The Microbial Inheritance: How Skin-to-Skin and Breastfeeding Shape Your Baby's Health Forever

I was talking to one of my cousins recently, and we started talking about food quality and how it affects the gut microbiome. Research shows how important the gut microbiome is in relation to chronic illnesses. When we clean up our diets and change our microbiome, it directly affects our physical and mental health. That led us straight into the foundation of a healthy gut: birth and breastfeeding. Research over the last two decades has shown that this early microbial colonization influences digestion, immune development, metabolism, and even long-term risks for disease. The Microbiome is the group of beneficial bacteria, viruses, and fungi that live in the gut, mouth, and on the skin. This early microbial balance supports digestion, immunity, metabolism, and even long-term health.

Breast milk seeds the gut with beneficial bacteria, especially Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus. Colostrum, the first milk, is especially rich in immune and microbial components that protect against harmful bacteria and help beneficial bacteria take hold early. We know now that a vaginal delivery seeds the gut in ways a C-section does not. Babies born vaginally get their starter microbes from their mother’s vaginal and gut flora. Babies born by C-section get a dose of antibiotics and will get more skin and environmental bacteria at first. As we know, antibiotics will change your microbiome and kill good bacteria along with the bad. Fortunately, breastfeeding is one of the biggest microbiome-shapers in a family and lays the foundation of the baby’s gut. And not only that, it influences the whole household ecosystem.

Milk contains live bacteria plus prebiotics that feed specific beneficial bacteria in the baby’s gut. A healthy gut environment builds a stronger immune system, and breast milk helps balance inflammation and teaches the immune system how to respond appropriately. Breast milk sends instructions for how to build the gut environment. When a baby is breastfeeding, saliva is thought to flow into the breast,

and the mother’s immune system reads the baby’s microbial and immune status. The mother’s immune system then changes to fit the baby’s needs. You will see this directly in the milk. Mom may notice that her milk looks creamier or more yellow during an illness. This is the breastmilk changing to protect the baby from whatever germs mom or baby may have been exposed to. Furthermore, newer research links the gut microbiome to the gut-brain axis communication between the gut and the brain.  A healthy microbiome supports learning, mood regulation, and overall neurodevelopment.

Skin-to-skin with the mother and or the father is very important to establish the microbiome and expose the baby to the correct bacteria. When mom and baby are separated, it exposes the baby to a different microbiome and changes the baby’s gut. More research needs to be done to really understand the long-term implications of this. We do know that skin-to-skin with the parents and breastfeeding exposes the baby to the correct microbiome and provides protection to the baby. When breastfeeding isn’t possible, skin-to-skin can aid in the colonization of the baby’s gut with the family microbiome.

The family microbiome is like a blueprint of the baby’s immune system. Since a baby arrives with an immature immune system, it is important give the baby a good foundation to be able to remain healthy and have a stable immune system. Breast milk provides a baby with a foundation for a stronger immune system and lowers the risk of chronic diseases like obesity, insulin resistance, asthma, allergies, inflammatory bowel disease, and Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.

Microbiomes were meant to be inherited like family culture. The goal is to create a microbiome that is appropriate for the environment the baby will be living in.

It is really miraculous that families share such similar microbiomes and can learn to fight off infections together. They are working as a unit to protect one another.