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Epidemiologic studies have suggested that the increasing use of cesarean (C)-section may be associated with increased risks for asthma, allergies, and immune deficiencies. Babies born by C-section have been found to have a microbiota that is enriched in skin organisms, whereas those delivered vaginally harbor bacterial communities resembling the maternal vagina. These differences could have an effect on subsequent immune development.
To assess whether the skin microbiome of C-section–delivered infants could be altered by vaginal microbial transfer, investigators conducted a pilot study in which 4 of 11 babies born by C-section were swabbed at their mouth, face, and body within 2 minutes of birth with gauze that had been soaked in their mothe…