Sure, you've heard about the importance of gut health, but it can be a confusing and overwhelming conversation to try to keep up with. Needed exists not just to create better nutrition products, but to empower women with information. In that spirit, we're demystifying the gut microbiome, answering common questions from our community, and diving deep into why we created our Prenatal Pre/Probiotic.
Caring for your microbiome can have a profound impact on your own health and your baby’s health, now and for years to come.
Key Takeaways
- A mother's microbiome helps shape her baby's microbiome before, during, and after pregnancy — bacteria have been found in the placenta, amniotic fluid, and meconium, and new mothers continue seeding the baby's gut through birth, skin-to-skin contact, and breastfeeding.
- Not all probiotics contain the same strains, and strain specificity matters — Needed's Pre/Probiotic was formulated with microbiome researchers around named strains like Lactobacillus rhamnosus HN001 and Bifidobacterium longum BI-05, rather than a generic bacterial blend.
- Breastfed babies show a higher abundance of beneficial Bifidobacteria — the oligosaccharides in breast milk act as prebiotics that feed these bacteria, and skin-to-skin contact appears to support microbiome seeding even when breastfeeding isn't possible.
- The microbiome supports digestion, immune function, emotional health, and skin — up to 80% of the immune system is located in the gut, which is why microbiome balance is a foundation of maternal and infant wellness.
- When choosing a prenatal probiotic, look for specific, well-studied strains — check that the product names its strains and is backed by research on maternal and infant use rather than relying on a general "probiotic" label.
What is the microbiome?
The microbiome is the collection of bacteria that live within and on our bodies. While this balance of bacteria is often thought to reside only within the gut, or large intestine, the reality is that your microbiome extends far beyond the digestive tract and throughout your body, colonizing everything from your skin to your vagina.
While the amount and type of good and bad bacteria are in a constant state of flux depending on what you eat and other lifestyle factors like stress, antibiotic use, and toxin exposure, the trillions of bacteria in your microbiome generally outnumber human cells in your body 10 to 1!
Your microbiome has a tremendous impact on your health, influencing a variety of systems:
- Digestion: how you digest and absorb nutrients from the food that you eat.
- Immune response: this includes not only how your body defends and protects itself from external factors that lead to acute illness (we know that a large portion, up to 80%, of our immune systems are located in the gut) but also how it responds to its own stressors. The latter can impact your risk for autoimmune conditions in which your body sees its own healthy tissues as foreign invaders and attacks them.
- Emotional health: how your gut and brain interaction can impact stress, mood, anxiety, and more.
- Skin: the influence of the gut microbiome extends to influence even seemingly distant organ systems, including the skin. Research shows a strong correlation between a healthy gut microbiome and a healthy skin barrier. Your skin microbiome can affect babies as well, especially during skin-to-skin interaction.
Your microbiome in pregnancy
Your microbiome's health can impact your pregnancy, too. A healthy microbiome influences a variety of factors for both you and baby and can impact the risk of pregnancy complications.
Research continues to explore the relationship between gut dysbiosis — a microbiome imbalanced in its ratio of healthy to unhealthy bacteria — and maternal health throughout pregnancy. An unbalanced microbiome, known as gut dysbiosis, has been associated with adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes.
Blood sugar
Research has also suggested that targeted probiotic supplementation during pregnancy supports healthy blood sugar levels — which affects many aspects of pregnancy, including nausea, energy, and mood.
And the benefits of probiotics during pregnancy aren’t lost if you’ve already been diagnosed with gestational diabetes, as probiotic supplementation has been shown to reduce the risk of having a larger-than-gestational-age baby in women with gestational diabetes.
The importance of the vaginal microbiome during pregnancy
The vagina is a key component of your microbiome throughout your life, but it is an especially fundamental piece of your health and your baby’s health during pregnancy. The vaginal microbiome shifts with your hormones to adapt to your life stage, beginning with your first period and extending through menopause. During pregnancy, as hormones increase and signal that the body is pregnant, the vagina populates with more Lactobacillus to protect against infections that could be harmful to you or baby.
For example, an abundance of lactic-acid-producing bacteria like Lactobacillus makes it more difficult for certain other harmful bacteria to exist. This can help prevent common infections like bacterial vaginosis.
How does a baby’s microbiome develop?
It used to be thought that an infant developed in utero with a sterile gut and was only first established with bacteria (“seeded”) during delivery, but recent research has challenged this idea. We now know that there are three main ways that mothers help to seed the baby’s microbiome:
- Interaction in utero: recent research has found bacteria in the placenta, amniotic fluid, and first-pass meconium, suggesting that baby begins to be seeded during pregnancy. Studies have also shown that babies who are exposed to antibiotics in utero during the second and third trimester are at significantly higher risk of obesity in childhood, a sign that the baby’s microbiome is impacted by antibiotic use.
- During birth: if born vaginally, baby is seeded with bacteria while passing through the vaginal cavity. This process is so beneficial that some who undergo C-section or require antibiotics during labor choose to swab the vagina followed by baby’s face and skin to help seed baby with some of this important bacteria.
- After birth: skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding both continue to support a healthy microbiome.
- Breastfeeding is incredibly nourishing in its own right, but especially so when considering its role in shaping baby's microbiome. Recent studies have found that breastfed babies have a substantially higher abundance of beneficial Bifidobacteria in their gut microbiome. As another example of how nature perfectly designed breastmilk for babies, the oligosaccharides (special sugars) found in mama’s breast milk act as prebiotics, or food, for the Bifidobacterium.
- Skin-to-skin contact has also been shown to support microbiome seeding. For example, in one smaller study, mothers who practiced daily skin-to-skin contact for at least one hour had babies with significantly different gut microbiota, including more beneficial bacteria and healthier pathways.
This is important and empowering information for women who are pregnant and trying to conceive, as we can control what’s in our microbiome (and what’s passed along to the baby) before, during, and after pregnancy. And since life doesn’t always go as planned, it offers us several ways to support the microbiome when circumstances are outside our control, such as an unplanned C-section or antibiotics to treat a threatening infection.
Why gut health matters for baby
Does gut health really matter at such a young age? Absolutely. We have tremendous influence to help seed and support baby’s microbiome in such a way that will impact her health. Introducing these helpful bacteria to baby’s microbiome helps to establish a strong immune response early on. Supplementing with probiotics during pregnancy and breastfeeding can also help prevent allergies, eczema, asthma, and colic."
But the benefits extend far beyond infancy. The microbiome is critical for lifelong health and immunity, and maternal microbiome diversity helps to determine baby’s health outcomes, even into adulthood.
Is any probiotic effective?
With so many different brands and strains of probiotics, it can be a bit overwhelming to determine which ones you need during the important phases of motherhood. We thought so too, which is why we did the work for you.
How did we do it? We started with targeted research around specific strains that benefit you and your baby. In some cases, the strains were commercially available; for others, we dug deeper to understand each strain's mechanism of action so we could replace the unattainable strains with something tangible and effective. For example, in the case of strains studied for their role in the vaginal microbiome, the specific strains aren't commercially available.
What is in Needed's Probiotic
We added a variety of Lactobacillus strains that help increase gut acidity, plus Bacillus coagulans, which affects the vaginal microbiome, and Bacillus spores, which are extremely strong competitors against pathogens like Group B Strep. With that in mind, our Pre/Probiotic includes several hand-picked strains, backed by science.
Three Spore-based strains
MegaTrio™ is a patented blend of Bacillus clausii SC-109, Bacillus subtilis HU58, and Bacillus coagulans SC-208 that supports healthy digestion, immunity, healthy inflammatory response, gut motility, and healthy Vitamin B status. This trio also helps produce lactic acid, contributing to a healthy pH in the gut and vagina that supports a balanced microbial environment.
Three Lactobacillus strains
- Lactobacillus rhamnosus HN001: supplementation with this strain during the third trimester and breastfeeding has been studied for its role in supporting healthy skin in infants when taken during the third trimester and while breastfeeding.
- Lactobacillus acidophilus La-14: this strain has been shown to offer numerous benefits, including boosting immune function and reducing anxiety
- Lactobacillus reuteri 1E1: this strain is a lactic acid-producing bacterium that promotes bowel regularity and supports healthy immune function. Research has shown that supplementation with L. Reuteri during the third trimester may also significantly reduce the incidence of childhood allergies.
One Bifidobacterium strain
Bifidobacterium longum is a keystone species supporting optimal gut health, healthy digestion, and immune response. Our strain of Bifidobacterium longum BI-05 is well-studied for gut health and immunity in mama and baby, and for reducing allergic symptoms in baby.
Two Prebiotics
- MicrobiomeX®: A natural citrus extract rich in polyphenols that supports digestive health and immunity by increasing microbial diversity in the gut and improving gut barrier function. It also supports digestive health and immunity by increasing microbial diversity and supporting healthy gut barrier function.
- Livaux™ FOS: A prebiotic, or food for the friendly probiotics. It is sourced from New Zealand gold kiwifruit and has the unique ability to support a healthy gut barrier without feeding unwanted, harmful bacteria.
The bottom line
Your gut health influences the health of your baby’s gut, and a healthy, diverse, and balanced maternal gut microbiome can help set baby up for success. Probiotics are an effective and easy way to support both mama and baby before, during, and after pregnancy, but not all probiotics are created equally, including the specific strains that benefit the baby.
Look for the specific strains we’ve listed (e.g., Lactobacillus rhamnosus HN001) to ensure that you are taking the right probiotic for you and your baby or check out ours that has been uniquely and carefully developed to support both you and baby during the important stages of pregnancy and postpartum.
