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#9 The Gut Microbiome in Pregnancy and Breastfeeding
37 Plays28 days ago
The Bean Talk - Episode 9: The Gut Microbiome in Pregnancy and Breastfeeding
In this solo episode, Rhiannon dives into the fascinating and complex world of the gut microbiome, particularly in pregnancy and breastfeeding. She explains why a healthy gut is crucial for both mothers and their babies, covering everything from how it influences fertility, full-term pregnancies, and long-term health outcomes for children.
Rhiannon breaks down the basics of the gut microbiome, shares how it's impacted by diet, stress, and antibiotics, and offers practical tips to support gut health during pregnancy. She also touches on the importance of preconception care, the role of probiotics, and why testing for gut imbalances can make a huge difference in maternal and child health. This episode is packed with helpful insights for anyone interested in supporting their gut health naturally.
Join the conversation on Instagram at @mungbean_health, and don’t forget to check in with your naturopath if you’re experiencing any digestive issues!
If you want to book an appointment with one of our incredible naturopaths, visit our website https://mungbeanhealth.com/.
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Transcript
Introduction to Gut Microbiome in Pregnancy
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to The Bean Talk with me, Rhiannon, your fertility fairy godmother, joined by my trusted partner in life and in the mission of Mung Bean Health, Jeremy.
00:00:23
Speaker
Hi guys, and welcome back. It's just me today, Rhiannon, solo for you guys. Jeremy's busy.
Importance of Gut Microbiome in Fertility and Birth
00:00:30
Speaker
um So I thought we would just talk a little bit about the gut microbiome in pregnancy and breastfeeding, is something that is absolutely complex and fascinating at the same time. I feel that it's an important factor that a lot of people overlook, but something that we as practitioners, specifically in the fertility space, are looking over in each of our cases. We want to make sure that that gut is right for so many reasons, but a couple will go over today. It is so complex, so I'll keep it as easy to understand as possible, but just know that there is so much to it. Same as the vaginal microbiome actually, which I'd love to do a podcast on for you guys. I think that as the research continues to come out,
00:01:19
Speaker
It's absolutely amazing the things that we're learning along the way and how it can impact our fertility or having a full-term birth or affecting our offspring later on, those sort of things. So I think very important for us to discuss at some point, but we'll talk about the gut today and some common conditions that are linked to and our gut
Home Testing for Gut Microbiome
00:01:42
Speaker
microbiome. So what can be playing a role there?
00:01:45
Speaker
I think, again, we are just scratching the surface of what there is to learn because it is so complex and we only know so much. So we're just continuing to learn and use all of this updated research to better the health of our patients and their offspring. So let's talk a little bit about that gut microbiome.
00:02:11
Speaker
So first up, what is the gut microbiome? You hear people talk about it all the time, microbiome this, microbiome that, but what is it? So the gut microbiome is the totality of microorganisms, bacteria, viruses, and fungi, and their collective genetic material present in the gastrointestinal tract or GIT.
00:02:35
Speaker
In today's society our guts are exposed to a lot more nasty things like harmful foods, processed foods and all that comes with that and environmental toxins and everything that comes with that which can both alter our microbiome and therefore We need some extra support around that because it is very delicate and things can influence it strongly. Testing, I always get asked about how do we look into our gut microbiome? How do we test it? So the testing we do is virus tool test. It is something that you do at home. and her not very pleasant, but at least you don't have to do it at a clinic. You can just do it at home. And essentially we are collecting information, getting data on what's going on, your microbiome
Impact of Maternal Microbiome on Offspring Health
00:03:23
Speaker
profile. So we're looking at good and bad bacterias, pathogens, worms and parasites, and so many other things as well. But I love the fact that in the testing that we do, we're also checking in on the good guys to make sure that
00:03:37
Speaker
we're not just allowing all these other opportunistic bacterias to poke their ugly head in because our good bacteria is down or the good bacterias that are fighting the good fight to keep everything in working order. So very important to be looking at that and the amount of times in my clinical experience that I've seen people with low beneficial bacteria having all these terrible gut issue, symptoms popping up and then once we get that good back that good bacteria back up that we see how much it has improved and fights all of those nasties popping back in.
00:04:14
Speaker
Anyway, the microbiome in pregnancy is super, super duper important. And actually, again, back to clinical experience, seeing offspring or not necessarily, we don't do it on young babies unless we have to, but on toddlers, it's amazing how the profile directly reflects the mother's profile, which is amazing because obviously you've grown them and you have a lot of influence over that. So we want to make sure we support our offspring in the best possible way. Throughout pregnancy, the body goes through so many physiological changes to help the fetus obviously develop and grow. And this includes so many changes to the gut microbiome. Hormones can influence it, so many things. Also, I don't know if you guys know, but the oral bacteria directly colonizes the placenta. So our oral hygiene and our oral health directly goes to that placenta microbiome.
00:05:15
Speaker
which is amazing. So we want to make sure that it's good everywhere in our body for our offspring. Changes in the maternal gut microbiome is probably one of the mechanisms that occurs in various pregnancy ah diseases such as preeclampsia, fetal growth restrictions, gestational diabetes, excessive gestational weight gain, so gaining a lot in excess throughout pregnancy, and premature birth as well. So we want to make sure that we've got that gut right.
00:05:46
Speaker
The maternal microbiota also affects the growth of the offspring in the prenatal and postnatal period and is important in their later life
Dysbiosis and Pregnancy Complications
00:05:56
Speaker
as well. So it's not only just about having that healthy pregnancy and supporting the pregnancy all around. And once we give birth, it's also supporting your baby when they grow and as they get older, because you are in control of supporting that gut microbiome for them.
00:06:14
Speaker
maternal dysbiosis, so when the mother has any dysbiosis, gut issues could be like a lot of bloating or really constipated or really loose stool or mucous or blood in the stool or anything um like gas, flatulence, that sort of thing. Cramping, any of those sort of negative gut reactions, so dysbiosis, can permanently change the course of the physiological processes.
00:06:40
Speaker
increasing the risk of certain diseases in the offspring, so in your baby, which is just crazy. Some examples of that would be cardiometabolic disorders, obesity and diabetes. So you can essentially influence that in your offspring, which is not what we want to do as mothers. So supporting that gut microbiome in preconception care before we fall pregnant is crucial.
00:07:04
Speaker
There are a couple of different bacterias that are at play for the different co complications. So essentially our preeclampsia, we know that our short chain fatty acids butyrate lowers the maternal blood pressure during pregnancy. And for our gestational diabetes, one of the most common that is one of the most common metabolic complications in pregnancy. We see it hugely ranging from 1.8 to 22 percent and the intestinal microbiota is involved in metabolic changes that affect the blood glucose levels. Making sure that intestinal microbiome is healthier is going to support that metabolic blood glucose link there. Studies have shown an increase in firmicutes and a decrease in the bacteroides, can never say that one, such a mouthful, in gestational diabetes patients, as well as an increase in the FB ratio during the third trimester in pregnancy.
00:08:09
Speaker
So that FB ratio is considered to be a marker of that low-grade systemic inflammation in obesity and also insulin resistance.
Benefits of Probiotics in Pregnancy
00:08:19
Speaker
This is where probiotics come in. Now probiotics are so amazing. They are phenomenal in what they can do and how they can support that gut microbiota when use correctly because there's so many strains and so many families. You want to make sure you are getting the correct advice. So no self-prescribing, please, especially in pregnancy, but even outside of. So the use of probiotics in pregnancy with women with GD or gestational diabetes has so many different benefits. Numerous studies are being taken all the time to go over and make sure that they're confirming this, but
00:08:58
Speaker
It's amazing the data that we're already seeing. The amazing thing about the probiotics that they've seen is that it can increase the insulin sensitivity, reduce inflammation, and also decrease the risk of preeclampsia and preterm birth, which is fabulous.
Improving Gut Health: Tips and Advice
00:09:15
Speaker
We do not want to be having babies before they are ready. With that preterm birth side of things, they have done, again, many studies, but an analysis in one study of stool samples, so checking in on that gut microbiome, of 19 patients who gave birth prematurely, and 102 who had a full-term birth showed a decrease in Bifidobacterium and Streptococcus families.
00:09:41
Speaker
Reducing the amount of Bifidobacterium can lead to an increased susceptibility of preterm labor in women, which is just amazing that we have some of that knowledge now. So there's things that we can do about it. Some things that are going to affect your microbiome and things that you are, again, in control of are high sugar. Diet is huge.
00:10:05
Speaker
so having a high sugar diet can definitely strongly affect in a negative way that gut microbiome. High stress is another one so we want to be conscious and careful of our stress levels and if we are in a high stress level environment like work or at home we want to make sure that we are having those decreased times and bringing down that stress and supporting ourselves. Low fiber diets would also hinder that gut microbiome. We need that fiber in the gut to support that whole diversity um and low diversity or variation diet. So not having enough very different types of foods. You want to make sure you're having a lot of different types to support that diversity in the gut.
00:10:53
Speaker
Another one which is very common especially these days is antibiotic use. So antibiotic use, obviously we need them sometimes, super important, amazing we have them but it's when we're using them that we when we don't need them and then it is killing that good bacteria with the bad in the gut. You can take it one step further though, when we're eating certain types of meats A lot of the meats these days are not antibiotic free, they're pumping those animals full of antibiotics. So if you're not eating good quality meat, organic, hormone free, antibiotic free, I know it's a lot, it's almost like a book when you're trying to
00:11:32
Speaker
ah get the types of foods that you need that are pure which should just be standard meat you want to be careful of that because that can also be affecting your gut every day. But there is still so much in your control that you can do to support that gut especially in pregnancy again with the recommendation or prescription from your naturopath or health professional you want to be taking a mother and baby specific probiotic because the strains are going to be specific to you and bub. We want to be upping that fiber in the diet, making sure that we're getting it from a diverse range, different areas in the diet, supporting immune function, trying to avoid those antibiotics. So if we can keep ourselves supported with that immune function nice and strong and
00:12:18
Speaker
doing all the things to avoid antibiotics, then our gut's going to be better off. Exercise, we're really going to support you there, so making sure that we are doing that regular exercise, like 30 minutes, three to five times a week, even if you can only get in three times a week. Walking, honestly, even if you can only do 10 minutes here and there, just get yourself moving. It's so important for so many different things.
00:12:43
Speaker
Good quality sleep, yeah I know it can be really hard especially with little ones. Good quality sleep though is going to be really supportive of that gut microbiome so even if you've got to go to bed earlier or if you're able to wake up later trying to organize those times or even a mid-day nap.
00:13:00
Speaker
if you can, what a dream, try and get that in. And then with diet, trying to avoid highly processed foods, because unfortunately, that sugar is going to fit affect that gut microbiome. So yes, still so much in your control.
Conclusion and Future Topics
00:13:17
Speaker
There's a lot out of our control in this day and age with a lot of the chemicals and things around. It honestly can be stressful when you sit there and think about all the different areas that could be affecting our gut microbiome and our health in general, but because we don't want to get stressed out, we want to avoid that stress, remember, it's important for that gut microbiome plus so many other things, we want to be minimizing and just controlling what we can that's in our control as we've just been over.
00:13:50
Speaker
I hope you found this interesting. Let's talk more about that vaginal microbiome in the upcoming podcast. But for now, I'm going to leave you with that. Remember, you can do a lot to control that microbiome in pregnancy. It's all about preconception care. So please reach out when you're ready to get started. Or if you're already seeing one of our beautiful practitioners, please um let them know if you're having any uncomfortable cut digestive issues. Bye.
00:14:22
Speaker
And that's a wrap on today's dose of wellness. I'm Rhiannon, your fertility fairy godmother. Thank you for joining us. Stay connected with us on Instagram at mungbin underscore health.