Babies given ‘poo milkshakes’ in groundbreaking new trial
Topics: Health, Parenting, Women's Health, Science, NHS
Jen Thomas
Featured Image Credit: Emma Kim/Getty Images
Topics: Health, Parenting, Women's Health, Science, NHS
You truly learn something new every day, and today is the day you find out that 'poo milkshakes' are a thing.
But before you nervously eye up your local diner's menu, this isn't something that will be rolled out nationally or recommended for adults on the NHS any time soon.
Babies that are born by caesarean section are taking part in a trial which sees them being given a milkshake containing a small amount of their mothers’ faeces in it. Yum!
This might sound unconventional, but it seems to be generating promising results for their health.
Advert
Following the first small trial, the odd-sounding 'poo milkshakes' seem to be changing the gut microbiome of the babies.
It had previously been feared that caesarean babies are missing out on some important immunity due to the method of their birth.
However, before you get any ideas about making a poo milkshake of your own (please don't!), some doctors are advising against the trials.
They say the research is at very early days, and such a dangerous step should not be taken lightly.
Babies could become incredibly ill if anyone were to try a DIY, unsupervised version outside of a medical setting,
While it sounds disgusting, the poo milkshake was created after medical trials and research found that bacteria and the health of our guts can have a big impact on our overall health.
Over the last ten years, science has come leaps and bounds when it comes to gut health and research, especially when it comes to looking at the health of babies versus their method of birth.
Doctors were interested to see if they could improve the health of babies born by caesarean section, as they are at a slightly higher risk of obesity and asthma.
They realised that babies missed out on a lot of their mother’s bacteria when they weren't born naturally, as many women have a bowel movement during labour, and the baby comes into contact with it.
The researchers in Finland have therfore been adding tiny amounts of faeces - just 3.5mg - into the baby's first drink of breastmilk to see how their bacteria levels fare afterwards.
So far, it has been tried with 15 babies, with 16 of them receiving a placebo version instead.
Dr Otto Helve of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare gave an update in October, saying that there was a noticeable increase in bacteria from just the second day after birth.
He also stressed: “You have to be certain that the faecal matter that you give to the newborn doesn’t include pathogens that could cause a disease."
It remains to be seen whether this trial will be rolled out on a wider basis.