This topic, the microbiome connection, is a popular one around here!
The story of today’s guest is like so many other mothers. She went from feeling prepared, planning for a home birth, and breastfeeding to feeling completely disempowered and unprepared after her emergency C-section.
Her plans went out the window and she had little support.
This path is so familiar to so many mothers. And today’s guest, Toni Harman, a birth documentary filmmaker chose to follow this path of missteps within the field of childbirth to unveil the missing pieces of education as it relates to the importance of the microbiome connection.
Where to find Toni Harman:
Episode at a glance: Birthing Life: Exploring the Microbiome Connection with Toni Harman Ep: 116
- How the mother passes beneficial bacteria to her baby during vaginal birth, and how these beneficial bacteria are fed by the special sugars in breast milk (which is why exclusive breastfeeding is so important)
- How diet and lifestyle choices during pregnancy and postpartum can impact the mother’s gut microbiome, which in turn impacts the baby’s microbiome.
- How beneficial bacteria are key to the optimal training of the infant immune system, to protect a baby’s lifelong health.
- What mothers can eat/do after birth, particularly after a C-section to help restore the baby’s microbiome.
The heart of this conversation makes the point that quite often a mom goes into a hospital and all of the beneficial experiences that occur naturally in birth for microbiome connection and immune system training are disregarded and the medical system takes over.
We discuss that it’s up to parents to become empowered and educate the maternity system.
Most importantly, you’ll leave this episode feeling empowered even beyond the birth experience if you’re dealing with increased childhood illness, food allergies, or other complicated situations, to take some action now to support the gut microbiome connection and the immune system going forward.
