Rachel says:
"Breastmilk is The Probiotic Of Choice for infants."  

Absolutely!!  

"Giving probiotics in addition to breastmilk strikes me as gilding the lily."

I would agree from a purely biological perspective--I might even go so far as to say it is reductionist. BUT, 
that would assume healthy mothers with normal gut function giving birth to healthy babies under normal 
birthing conditions. I don't think we have a lot of that happening here this side of the Atlantic.

"I share Gina G's mystification over how probiotics taken by mother during
breastfeeding can affect the nursling, though I do understand the rationale
for taking them in pregnancy."

Actually, they help in many ways. First, they do indeed create a more hospitable flora for the baby who 
does manage to make it through the birth canal. But, more importantly, they heal the mother's gut so that
she passes fewer foreign proteins to the baby both during pregnancy (they don't make it into the shared
bloodstream) and during breastfeeding (they don't make it into mom's milk via her blood supply). It is the
MOM'S leaky gut that underlies food allergies, mom must heal her own gut first!!! Further, since 70% of 
the immune system is in the gut and the enteric nervous sytem is in the gut--a healthy gut in the mom
has much to do with the health of the baby's immune and nervous systems. Probiotics, though, are 
not a panacea and they cannot overcome years of poor eating habits. There is far more to healing 
the gut than probiotics. 

"Still I think for many women their energy would be just as well spent trying 
to find a place to give birth that allows them more than two chances in three 
of pushing their own baby out through the opening intended for that purpose 
so their baby's gut gets colonized the old fashioned way."
Oh, I so agree with this statement, but I cannot say one is more important than the other. Healthy mothers 
have healthier babies.

"Disclaimer: I'm not much on dietary supplements, esp in tablet or capsule
form. Taking pills makes me feel like a patient when what I most want to do
is nibble, dine, or gorge."

Again, I agree that food should be our first medicine. The problem is that most women make pregnancy their
excuse for eating garbage. 



 


Jennifer Tow, IBCLC, CT, USA
Intuitive Parenting Network, LLC

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