Vaginal 'seeding': Could this new birth trend be putting babies at risk?

The 'seeding' birth trend could be putting babies at risk, says the BMJ

Babies come out of bacteria-laden vaginas everyday...

•  Milli Hill -
25 FEBRUARY 2016

Warning: this article brings together two of the most two taboo topics of our time.

Firstly, we’re going to be talking about bacteria, that dreadful stuff that advertising companies suggest we should be purging from every area of our homes, bodies, and even our clothes. Secondly, there will be pretty extensive referencing of vaginas.

In our bacteria-averse, vagina-phobic culture, some women are making a rather unusual choice.

When they give birth to their baby via caesarean, they are taking a piece of gauze, placing it in their – no I’m not going to call it a birth canal – vagina, and then rubbing the newborn with this bacteria-rich cloth.

This week, three experts writing in the British Medical Journal have raised concerns about the practice, known as ‘gauze seeding’ or ‘seeding the microbiome’.

They suggest that the procedure could carry a risk of passing infections to the baby, such as Group B Strep, and that, since there is ‘no evidence of benefit’, this small risk of harm cannot be justified.

Before we go any further, we perhaps need to rewind a bit, since you might be anywhere on the spectrum between baffled and revolted to learn that C-section mums are rubbing their vaginal bacteria on their cute little babies.

So let’s start by attempting to get a basic grip on the concept of the human microbiome.

Microbiome is a word that’s only just edging its way into the popular consciousness, but take it from me, if you’re lucky enough to be alive for the next fifty years, you’re going to be hearing a whole lot more about it.

Essentially, it’s the rich colony of bacteria that lives on us and in us, and scientists are only just beginning to understand the huge role it may play in every single aspect of our physical and mental health.

What they know so far, is that important steps in the ‘colonisation’ of the human microbiome happen at birth, and that the microbiomes of babies born via caesarean section are both different, and less diverse, than their vaginally born counterparts. This – and here the scientists admit there is much speculation – could explain why caesarean born children are known to be at higher risk of health problems such as asthma, diabetes, and obesity.

So, mums in the know about the possible impact of the mode of birth on their baby’s future health are attempting to ‘compensate’ for the lowered microbial diversity of caesarean birth, by using the simple technique of ‘seeding’.

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