Table 2.
Summary of different strategies involved in restoration of the gut microbiota after C-section
| Strategy | Featured effects | References |
|---|---|---|
| “Vaginal seeding” | Vaginal seeding could successfully colonize C-section infants with vaginal bacteria | Dominguez-Bello et al. (2016),101 Knight et al. (2016)105 |
| Microbial environment | Green spaces/natural environments rapidly induce positive changes to the psychological, physiological, and endocrine systems; diminished exposure to them in the perinatal period may cause immunoregulatory and psychosocial deficits | Rook (2013)109 |
| Probiotic supplementation | Supplementation with probiotics can confer a plethora of beneficial effects in variety of disorders, eg, consumption of the commensal bacteria L. rhamnosus GG affects fecal Bifidobacterium transfer and composition during early infancy | Hill et al. (2014),112 Gueimonde et al. (2006)113 |
| Prebiotic supplementation | Supplementation with prebiotics may represent a viable strategy to benefit the gut microbiota, immunity, metabolism, and gastrointestinal function of infants exposed to early-life microbial perturbation | Rastall et al. (2015),123 Slavin (2013),124 Barrett et al. (2015),129 Arslanoglu et al. (2008),130 Gruber et al. (2010)131 |
| Synbiotic supplementation | Supplementation with a combination of pre- and probiotics can have synergistic beneficial effects on the immune and metabolic system | Passeron et al. (2006),136 Nikniaz et al. (2013),137 Ostadrahimi et al. (2013)138 |
| Human milk feeding | Microbial establishment in the infant gut is influenced by the microbes present in breast milk | Diaz Heijtz (2016),64 Hinde et al. (2012)139 |
| Specific infant formula feeding | Supplementation of infant milk formula with long-chain fatty acids may prevent and/or improve development of asthma, inhibit placental inflammation, and have implications for neural development - even potentially reversing the impact of early-life stress on the microbiota | Miles et al. (2014),156 Melody et al. (2015),157 Hsieh et al. (2009),158 Pusceddu et al. (2015)155 |
| Human donor milk banks | Can be used as a possible alternative to maternal breastfeeding to improve neonatal health by supporting the safe use of human milk in preterm infants | Stevens et al. (2015),159 MacKenzie et al. (2013)163 |