Cesarean section (CS) deliveries are increasing worldwide, but they are known to interfere with normal intestinal colonization of the newborn and affect neonatal physiology and immunodevelopment. CS delivery is associated with increased risk of various chronic immune diseases, including allergies, asthma, inflammatory diseases and even leukaemia. The accumulating evidence on the importance of the gut microbiota for overall child development is raising the need for early correction of the microbiota imbalances caused by caesarean birth. We have recently demonstrated oral transplantation of maternal fecal microbiota to be an effective method of normalizing the microbiota of the CS-delivered infant. In this project we perform a feasibility study and randomized controlled trials on preterm and newborn infants and healthy adults to assess the impact of this method on the development of microbiome, immunodevelopment and on antibiotic resistance.

2021

2025