Can Breastfeeding Help Antibiotic-Exposed Microbiomes Recover?

Can Breastfeeding Help Antibiotic-Exposed Microbiomes Recover?

  Exclusive breastfeeding for at least three months may lessen the effect of antibiotic use during labor and delivery on an infant’s microbiome. Cesarean delivery and antibiotic use during vaginal or C-section childbirth decreases diversity of an infant’s microbiome [1, 2]. However, a study by Azad et al. suggests that exclusive breastfeeding for at least three months may lessen the effect of maternal use of antibiotics during labor and delivery on the microbiome [3]. Breastfeeding may repair the infant microbiome after antibiotic use. Birth is a key time for beneficial microbes to be transmitted from mother to infant, especially during vaginal birth [1, 4, 5]. However antibiotics that disrupt microbiome transmission may be used during both vaginal and Cesarean section (C-section) deliveries. During childbirth, especially in Canada and the United States, antibiotics may be used for several reasons. In vaginal deliveries, antibiotics are used to prevent transmission of Group B Streptococcus (GBS) transmission to the infant. However, the use of antibiotics for GBS is correlated with increased antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli infections in infants [6]. Antibiotics may also be given to reduce opportunistic pathogen infections during long labors where the amniotic sac membrane has ruptured. Cesarean section surgeries use antibiotics as