From mother to a child: how expectant mothers health effects on the child’s microbiome

Tips for a healthy pregnancy

To give the world a new life – what could be easier, but at the same time more difficult? Expectant mothers today face a huge number of dangers and at the time of pregnancy, their health is often not the best either. A large number of chronic diseases, viruses, and bacteria significantly reduce the chances of having a healthy baby. Therefore, doctors usually give a long list of recommendations for expectant mothers.

For example, specialists in UC San Diego Health (1) often give the following tips:

• Take a prenatal vitamin and exercise regularly
• Change your chores (avoid harsh or toxic cleaners, heavy lifting) and get comfortable shoes
• Track your weight gain (normal weight gain is 25-35 pounds)
• Eat folate-rich (lentils, asparagus, oranges, fortified cereals) and calcium-rich foods (dairy, canned fish, soy), more fish (except those high in mercury), foods with fiber, veggies, but don’t overeat. 
• Limit caffeine and don’t drink alcohol, don’t smoke, and avoid secondhand smoke
• Drink plenty of fluids (six 8-ounce glasses of water per day)
• Wear sunscreen
• Avoid changing cat litter (to reduce risk of toxoplasmosis)
• Get enough sleep
• See your dentist
• Practice relaxation techniques daily (yoga, stretching, deep breathing, massage)
• Don’t overmedicate 
• Exercise, but don’t overdo it

Mother’s balanced microbiome is the main thing for a healthy kid

This is very good advice, but there is no information about how important it is to take care of your microbiome before, during, and after pregnancy or about the importance of treating different chronic inflammatory diseases before having a baby.

It is believed that we first encounter bacteria after birth. In fact, birth is not at all the beginning of a child’s interaction with bacteria. They are with us already at the stage of the fetus (2). It has been shown that the condition of the mother during pregnancy determines the future of our gut microbiome. For example, factors affecting a baby’s microbiota are antibiotic intake during pregnancy, her body weight, stress levels, oral bacteriological status, and pregnancy diabetes (3). One study showed that milk from overweight mothers has a lower bacterial diversity. A disrupted gut microbiome in an infant increases the risk of bronchial asthma, respiratory diseases, obesity, asthma, and many other diseases in the future.

Why does it happen?

This is due to the underdevelopment of the immune system of the newborn, which, at the same time, has a lot of Th2 lymphocytes, and therefore the risk of developing inflammatory diseases and allergies increases (3). Also, the mechanism of the body’s acquaintance with the next antigens is insufficient so that it learns to recognize them, which as a result leads to a violation of the further formation of immunity. Also, thanks to the active development of medicine and hygiene, the level of morbidity and mortality from tuberculosis, mumps, rubella, hepatitis A has significantly decreased today, but the incidence of “diseases of civilization” is increasing. And all because from the first days of life we ​​have violated our microbiome and changed the aspect of the presentation of antigens.

Inherited microbiome

Combined with observations that a significant proportion of the microbes constituting our gut microbiota in the first year of life are of maternal origin, this suggests that the gut microbiota and its effects on the developing immune system are an inherited trait affecting our long-term health (4). The maternal microbiota is a likely source because the infant and mother intestinal microbiota share identical strains. Successfully transmitting microbes from mother to child requires microbes in the maternal donor, contact between the maternal source and the infant, and an acquiring infant recipient (5).

So, we can summarize that a balanced maternal microbiome is crucial for obtaining a healthy infant microbiota. But how can future mothers safely improve their microbiome and heal existing chronic inflammation to give birth to a healthy baby?

Multi EM Ferment® – the first step to a healthy life

Multi EM Ferment® is a multi-stage fermented beverage with 31 different strains of beneficial bacteria (EM) and 31 different plant metabolites (6). This way, in Multi EM Ferment® essential for health (L+) lactic acid, antioxidants, enzyme particles, vitamins, minerals, trace elements, bioflavonoids, and crucial for our well-being bacteria are combined to protect and restore your organism. This product is prepared according to the principles of EM (Effective Microorganisms) technology, which combines in-depth knowledge about microorganisms, their combinations, and the impact on the microbiome and consequently on the health of the whole body. At the same time, the fermentation process multiplies nutrients and just a tablespoon of Multi EM Ferment® brings as many nutrients as if you ate a monthly dose of antioxidant supplements and different probiotics. This innovative supplement is great for immune support, cell protection, antioxidant action, and energy-boosting, concentration and memory improvement, and provides better mood and life quality. Multi EM Ferment® is suitable and recommended for the whole family’s well-being.

Multi EM Ferment® benefits for mother’s and child’s health

There is a long list of the reasons to take Multi EM Ferment® (7; 8):

• It is rich in natural superfoods, which have been transformed into a bioavailable form during the fermentation process, which is easily and immediately accepted by the cells
• Multi EM Ferment® is developed by the team of scientists and doctors and designed for therapeutic use in Biological Medicine and selected the most advanced, leading production facilities in Germany with many years of experience and certified activity (scientific studies, clinical practice)
• EM strains in the Multi EM Ferment® drink are alive, in their full life force and are naturally able to cross the acidic environment of the stomach and satisfy the intestinal microbiome
• Multi EM Ferment® has high quality, natural and low allergenic raw materials, free of pesticides and GMOs. It does not contain any artificial additives, preservatives, sweetened, gluten, aroma, flavor enhancers
• Multi EM Ferment® improves the mother’s digestion and metabolism, gives better protection and support of the intestinal wall and higher support for the functioning of the immune system
• It has the huge anti-inflammatory potential to reduce different chronic diseases
• Improves mood, mental health, and sleep of the pregnant women
• Protects against different diseases (including cancer, neurodegenerative, and Covid-19)
• Balance the microbiome of the expecting mother and infant 

Therefore, to the previous recommendations for pregnant women, we can add the advice to take care of the microbiome with the help of Multi EM Ferment® to ensure a healthy baby and a happy life without diseases.

Dr. Oksana Klymenko M.D., PhD, 
SNHS Dip. (Holistic Nutrition), Medical Doctor, Researcher in the fields 
of molecular physiology and pathophysiology, 
molecular biology, genetics, cell biology

Reference

1. https://health.ucsd.edu/news/features/pages/2016-01-05-36-pregnancy-tips-listicle.aspx
2. Van Daele E, Knol J, Belzer C. Microbial transmission from mother to child: improving infant intestinal microbiota development by identifying the obstacles. Crit Rev Microbiol. 2019;45(5-6):613-648;
3. Mueller NT, Bakacs E, Combellick J, Grigoryan Z, Dominguez-Bello MG. The infant microbiome development: mom matters. Trends Mol Med. 2015;21(2):109-117; 
4. Knoop, KA, Holtz, LR, Newberry, RD. Inherited nongenetic influences on the gut microbiome and immune system. Birth Defects Research. 2018; 110: 1494– 15036;
5. Van Daele E, Knol J, Belzer C. Microbial transmission from mother to child: improving infant intestinal microbiota development by identifying the obstacles. Crit Rev Microbiol. 2019 Sep-Nov;45(5-6):613-648;
6. Ogunrinola GA, Oyewale JO, Oshamika OO, Olasehinde GI. The Human Microbiome and Its Impacts on Health. Int J Microbiol. 2020;2020:8045646. Published 2020 Jun 12. doi:10.1155/2020/8045646;
7. Kumar Singh A, Cabral C, Kumar R, et al. Beneficial Effects of Dietary Polyphenols on Gut Microbiota and Strategies to Improve Delivery Efficiency. Nutrients. 2019;11(9):2216. Published 2019 Sep 13. doi:10.3390/nu11092216;
8. Filosa S, Di Meo F, Crispi S. Polyphenols-gut microbiota interplay and brain neuromodulation. Neural Regen Res. 2018;13(12):2055-2059. doi:10.4103/1673-5374.241429.