Whether born naturally or via cesarean section, babies receive essential microbes from their mothers, says study

Do cesarean-born babies miss out on essential microbes? New evidence suggests that the answer may be “no.” Researchers report on March 8 in the journal Cell Host & Microbe that mothers are able to transfer microbes to their babies via alternative, compensatory routes. While cesarean-born babies do receive less of their mother’s gut microbiome during birth, they make up for this by drinking their mother’s microbes in breastmilk.