Babies born by caesarean should be fed small amounts of their mother's poo mixed with breast milk to help boost their immune systems, scientists say.
Newborns who have not passed through their mother's vagina have less microbiota and are at increased risk of developing asthma and allergies as babies and toddlers, researchers found.
Scientists say this is probably because they do not get exposed to the microbiota in the mother's vagina and perineum during birth, which negatively affects how their immune system develops.
While a few studies have looked at whether swabbing an infant's skin with vaginal fluid immediately after birth reduces this risk, a new study offers a more drastic way to expose newborns to their mother's microbiota.
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