Baby & Maternal Microbiome: Does Gut Health Affect Pregnancy?

Read time: 6 minutes

Gut health is a hot topic, but does the health of our gut make a difference during pregnancy and postpartum?

Bottom line: Yup, gut health is important at all stages of life, and the health of your gut during pregnancy may impact your baby’s health as well.

In this article, we’ll talk about:

• What is the microbiome?

• What affects gut health during pregnancy?

• Does gut health impact pregnancy?

• How to improve gut health during pregnancy

• Your gut health after pregnancy

What is the microbiome in simple terms?

Everyone’s gut has an environment of good (and sometimes not-so-good) bacteria and microorganisms, referred to as your microbiome.¹

It is important to keep this microbiome humming along healthfully because it supports not only your gut but also many other systems in the body.²

In fact, here are just a few things our gut microbiome plays a role in:

• Supporting digestion

• Helping extract nutrients from food

• Producing vitamins such as vitamin K

• Supporting digestive health and immune function^2,20

What Factors Affect Gut Health During Pregnancy? 

During pregnancy, several factors may impact the gut microbiome.

Diet

Eating too much sodium, added sugars, and saturated fat, as well as too little fiber and plants, may alter the gut environment.³

Stress

Stress is hard to avoid, especially during pregnancy. But chronic stress may negatively affect your microbiome, potentially causing digestive problems like reflux, gas, bloating, diarrhea, or constipation.⁴

Antibiotic Use

While antibiotics are often an important strategy employed by your doctor in specific situations, their use may sometimes negatively impact gut health by decreasing the good bacteria.⁵ Chat with your healthcare provider for guidance on how to best support your health when this measure is needed.

Hormone Shifts During Pregnancy

Interestingly, gestational hormones, such as estrogen and progesterone, may also modulate how our microbiome behaves.^6,7

Does Gut Health Affect Pregnancy?

Your gut health may play a role in both your and your baby’s health.⁸

Mom’s bacterial footprint and unique microbiome can influence baby’s developing microbiome, potentially impacting baby’s health and development.⁹

Immune function, pregnancy complications, nutrient absorption, and fetal development are a few of the functions that may be altered by disruptions in gut health.^8,10

How to Help Improve Gut Health During Pregnancy

Here are 4 tips on supporting your gut health during pregnancy.

1. Diet

Aim to support a healthy microbiome by:

• Focusing on a diet rich in fiber. Eating lots of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans, and whole grains will help to up your fiber game.¹¹

• Swapping some saturated fats for unsaturated. Healthy fats come by way of eating foods like low-mercury fish, nuts, seeds, and plant-based oils such as olive and avocado oils.¹²

• Consuming plenty of phytonutrients such as antioxidants and polyphenols from plant foods such as vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds, and beans¹¹

Eating a well-balanced diet can help support overall gut health.

Read More:

Types of Fats: Knowing Which to Choose

Nutrition Needs Before, During, and After Pregnancy

Meal Plan to Help Reduce Added Sugar in Your Diet

2. Prebiotics and probiotics

Crucial in keeping those healthy microbes thriving in your gut are the inclusion of foods rich in pre- and probiotics.¹³

Probiotics are live microorganisms that, when taken in adequate amounts, result in health benefits.¹⁴

Some foods have added probiotics, such as yogurt, kefir, and cottage cheese. To know if a product has added probiotics, check the ingredient list and look for the probiotic strain listed.

Some people are interested in consuming fermented foods like miso, tempeh, kombucha, kimchi, and sauerkraut. Although fermented foods may contain live cultures, they have generally not been studied for probiotic or gut health benefits.^13,14

Prebiotics are compounds that act as food for the beneficial microorganisms in our body.¹⁶ They come from certain soluble fibers found in the plant foods, such as asparagus, Jerusalem artichokes, garlic, chicory, beets, slightly green bananas, peas, beans, and cooked and cooled grains and starches such as oats, rice, and potatoes.¹⁶

Read more: Probiotics & Prebiotics for Kids 101

3. Exercise

Exercise can also be important for the gut microbiome. It enhances gut motility (keeps things moving along) and may help increase the number and variety of beneficial bacteria.¹⁷

4. Minimize stress when you can

Stress does a number on our bodies. Communication between the gut and the brain needs to be functioning smoothly to support gut health.¹⁸ Stress may impact this relationship.

Finding ways to reduce and manage stress for mom is crucial.

From getting more rest and building your support system to exercising more, getting some sunshine, and focusing on healthy eating, it’s important to find ways to help minimize the stress in your life.

Gut Health After Pregnancy

Post-partum changes in your body during and after delivery can also affect the gut health of your baby.

Delivery Mode (Vaginal vs C-section)

Though many factors outside of childbirth may impact gut microbiome development, during a vaginal birth, mom’s healthy bacteria are transferred to baby as it moves through the vaginal canal.¹⁹

Breastfeeding & Formula Feeding

Breast milk helps promote a healthy gut microbiota in babies by influencing the gut environment through providing beneficial bacteria. It also supplies nutrients, like HMOs, to feed the bacteria.¹⁹

If you are formula feeding, choosing a formula with prebiotics and probiotics may be beneficial.²¹

Diet & Environmental Factors

Complementary feeding (starting and advancing through a variety of solid foods), pets in the household, siblings, and even geographical location can influence baby's gut microbiome.²²

Learn More: What are the Benefits of Breastmilk

Let's Chat!

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Our Happy Baby Experts are a team of lactation consultants and registered dietitian nutritionists certified in infant and maternal nutrition – and they’re all moms, too, which means they’ve been there and seen that. They’re here to help on our free, live chat platform Monday - Friday 8am-6pm (ET). Chat Now!

Read more about the experts who help write our content!

For more on this topic, check out the following articles:

How to Include More Leafy Green Vegetables in Your and Your Child’s Diet

How to Include More Beans and Legumes in Your Family’s Diet

Include More Whole Grains in Your Family’s Diet

Protein: Getting Enough of the Best Sources

Food and Ingredients to Avoid While Pregnant