As you may have read in an earlier post, I recently attended
SIMPLE, a conference for Integrative Medical Professionals held by the
University of New Mexico.  There, I
amassed a smorgasbord of integrative health education which I will be spurting
out as I fast as I can find the time to put it into words.  Sometimes, the topics will be heavy and
require more background information, and sometimes the facts will be short and
sweet.  Either way, you will learn
something you can apply to your own health care or, at the least, juicy enough
to intrigue your friends at your next social gathering.

The moans, screams, and sometimes profanities of a pregnant
woman are vividly known to anyone who has been in the delivery room of a vaginal birth
without epidural anesthesia.  Why, I
asked myself, during those hours of my labor and delivery did the baby have to
come out of there?  Couldn’t it have been
designed a little smarter and easier? 
Well, it apparently was designed very intelligently, but a woman’s pain
was not considered in the negotiations, I guess!

Did you know that a newborn’s developing immune system
relies on certain bacteria from the environment getting into the body during
the birthing process to become strong and balanced?  When a baby is born through the vaginal
canal, there are certain friendly bacteria that live in the vagina that get into
and take residence in (inoculate) the baby’s digestive system at that
time.  Historically after delivery, a
woman then would begin immediately breastfeeding, and another set of friendly
bacteria from the breast skin area would further inoculate the baby’s digestive
system.  As you may know, a human’s
immune system hangs out predominantly in the digestive tract.  In fact, 70% of your body’s defense system
lives there.  A critical part of your
defense strategy is the friendly bacteria (probiotics) living along the lining
of your intestines.  So putting it all
together, a newborn’s delivery is the critical time where this amazing and
ingenious first inoculation must occur. 
What a baby gets at the time of delivery is the most he will ever have
in his lifetime (barring probiotic supplementation in the future). 

What happens then if your baby was born via cesarean section
(c-section)?  During the preparation for
the surgery, the mother’s abdomen is sterilized (removing all skin bacteria)
and the baby is not inoculated by the friendly vaginal bacteria.  Afterwards, the baby is usually required to
be examined and eventually makes it back to mother for a trial of
breastfeeding.  What if mother became a
little too sedated from the epidural or pain meds that might have been given
prior to surgery?  She might not feel as
resilient after c-section to face her next order of business-
breastfeeding.  She might get frustrated with
her inabilities and decide to start bottle-feeding.  Obviously, the nurse will only provide a
clean, as close to sterile, bottle as possible to the newborn.  Perhaps, the mother gave a few breastfeeding
attempts (prior to the bottle being given) and a little probiotic gift was
transferred to her child but likely not as much as if she continued
breastfeeding as the primary source of feeding. 
Another additional twist- what if she was Group B strep positive and received
the routine antibiotics prior to delivery? 
These would travel to the unborn child and potentially disrupt his
ability to lay down the proper probiotic protection he needed later in
life.  So, what does all this mean?  Here are a few tips to connect the dots for
you.

• Avoid
  c-section if you can.  There are true
  indications for c-section where the benefits of c-section far outweigh the
  risks.  Speak to your OB about your
  ability to deliver vaginally allowing important inoculation of friendly
  bacteria for your baby.
•  If you must get a c-section, be sure to
  breastfeed.  This is the other way you can
  get some of those crucial good bacteria into your child’s digestive tract for
  future health.
•  The more robust the inoculation, the lower your
  child’s risk for atopic diseases like eczema, allergies, hay fever, asthma,
  reactive airway disease and anaphylaxis (especially if these run in the family).
•  If you receive antibiotics during labor and
  delivery, be sure to breastfeed.
•  Consider taking a quality probiotic during
  pregnancy if you have atopy.  Speak to a
  qualified healthcare provider or your OB before starting.
•  Try to breastfeed for the long haul (6 months is
  good, 12 months likely best).  It
  supports your baby’s immune system with more than just friendly bacteria.

As a mother who struggled with breastfeeding and had to
combo-feed in the end with her first daughter, I remember what an emotionally
charged time labor, delivery and immediate postpartum was for me and my family.  I would never imply that a woman is a bad
mother if she is unable to vaginally birth and breastfeed her child for one
year.  What I did learn with my first
daughter (and the next one, tooJ)
is that I don’t have ultimate control of all the factors that determine my
child’s health and future.  However,
there is power in education.  With this
information, I hope you have more control over some variables during this
important time of your life so that you can do the least harm and the most good
for your sweet bundle of joy!