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• Prospective birth cohort with longitudinal metagenomic sequencing Date verified

  Maternal influences on infant gut microbiome and health

  Dutch researchers sequenced 4,526 stool samples from 714 mother and infant pairs, from twelve weeks of pregnancy to the baby's first birthday, and matched bacterial strains between them. The mother's own gut was the major reservoir for the infant's gut strains, with only occasional transmission from the vaginal or breast milk microbiomes. Home birth barely registered, mattering about as much as how long the pushing stage lasted.

  Nature · Sinha et al. · University of Groningen and University Medical Center Groningen · 12 August 2026 · PMID 42587158

  microbiomegut-healthinfant-healthepidemiology