Family and friends can provide moral support during pregnancy, but the heavy lifting has to be done by you, the mom-2-be, fortunately Mother Nature helps

The moment of conception is usually pretty fun, but the actual task of making a baby, is hard work. Fortunately, family and friends can provide moral support, but the heavy lifting has to be done by you, the mom-2-be.

It is a nine month marathon…..

But you’re not running the race alone, this is the finding of a group of researchers from Cornell University.

The changing of the guard

Scientists know that the body undergoes lots of change, during pregnancy – the research team wondered if the bacteria living in the gut, would also change. So they set out to explore, who was who in the gut zoo, of a group of 91 Finnish pregnant ladies.

To do this, the team obtained two stool samples from each of the women, the first sample was collected at the start of their pregnancy (13.84 ± 0.16 weeks), the second sample was collected, towards the end of their pregnancy (33.72  ± 0.12 weeks). The bacteria in the stool samples were identified using molecular biology techniques, to ensure that every type of bacteria was accounted for.

The team found that each women had a unique combination of gut microflora, but as their pregnancy progressed, two groups of bacteria began to dominant, the central players during pregnancy, were bacteria belonging to the Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria species.

Gut flora come to the party

Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria are bacteria which are considered to be “hoarders”, because they are very efficient at extracting calories from food.

The “hoarders” propensity to stock pile calories, helps ensure there is lots of “food” available. Some of this “food” is channelled to the developing babe, guaranteeing a steady supply of vital nutrients. Some of this “food” is directed to getting the milk machine ready to deliver the good medicine, which will see junior grow up big and strong.

Another example of Mother Nature’s perfect plan….

Perfect for pregnancy

When the team inoculated mice that had been raised in an environment without any germs, so called germ free mice, with the bacteria from seriously pregnant ladies, it caused trouble with a capital T.

The mice picked up weight and became insulin resistant i.e. the “pregnancy bacteria” created metabolic disturbances associated with metabolic syndrome.

Ouch !

It turns out, the band of “pregnancy bacteria” are perfect for pregnancy, but in the non-pregnant, their “hoarding” habit, results in TOO MUCH calorie storing. And overflowing cupboards are upsetting.

If there is a baby on board, a little hoarding is necessary………and Mother Nature has you covered.

You are not alone

You have a whole team of bacteria, helping you gather up the supplies you need to build a healthy, strong baby.

NB. Just make sure you take care of your trillion little helpers……

Further reading

The stork should be deciding when your baby arrives	Babies who arrive via c-section arrive programmed to be fat	The sugar in Mom’s milk makes the “good” bacteria grow

If you are an expectant Mom or know someone that is – invite them to participate, so they can create Better Body Chemistry during their pregnancy and raise a HAPPY HEALTHY little one.