Your Baby's Microbiome

"Filmmaker couple Harman and Wakeford, who made the documentary Microbirth, share important information about infant health and the microbiome that they’ve learned from the “A-team of experts” interviewed for their movie. Each chapter title takes the form of a question, such as “What is the Human Microbiome?” and “What Do Bacteria Have to Do with Birth?” The human microbiome, the authors explain in the introduction, consists of the trillions of microorganisms (mostly bacteria) that live on and in the body, and its most critical period of formation is around childbirth. Chapter one further addresses where these bacteria reside and what they do, as well as their relationship with antibiotics. Subsequent chapters reveal that during vaginal birth, the baby is exposed to many beneficial microbes, that formula lacks key microbe-related ingredients in breast milk, and that babies born via C-section are often not exposed to the mother’s vaginal or intestinal microbes. Harman and Wakeford also delve into epigenetics, bacteria’s role in the immune system, and options for mothers who can’t breastfeed or have vaginal deliveries. This is a no-frills, easily comprehensible book that conveys the essentials of Harman and Wakeford’s research into childbirth."—Publishers Weekly

“Your Baby’s Microbiome is a fascinating read for anyone interested in what it means to be human.”—Jennifer Margulis, PhD, award-winning journalist; author of Your Baby, Your Way; coauthor, with Paul Thomas, MD, of the bestselling The Vaccine-Friendly Plan

“For expectant families, this is the must-read book of this generation. . . This timely information should be included as part of every childbirth education and newborn care class. Your Baby’s Microbiome will help parents truly make informed decisions about how and where they give birth and how they feed and care for their baby. It is a must for every woman giving birth."—Laurel Wilson, IBCLC, CLE, CLD, CCCE, coauthor of The Attachment Pregnancy

“Your Baby’s Microbiome is essential reading for every expectant parent, grandparent, and anyone who works with or cares about childbirth, and the health and well-being of the next generations. It opens the door to what our intuition already knows―that disturbing nature’s well-orchestrated design in childbirth has short- and long-range health risks. You can make a difference and turn this potential health disaster around. Knowledge is power, and Toni and Alex have put the power into your hands.”—Debra Pascali-Bonaro, founder and president, Pain to Power; director of the award-winning documentary Orgasmic Birth: The Best-Kept Secret; cowriter of Orgasmic Birth: Your Guide to a Safe, Satisfying, and Pleasurable Birth Experience

“I hope this extremely useful and informative book will be widely distributed and widely read, and that its findings will change birthing practice in this country and around the world!”—Robbie Davis-Floyd PhD, senior research fellow, Department of Anthropology, University of Texas Austin; author of Birth as an American Rite of Passage; lead editor of Birth Models That Work

“The conversational style and clear explanations in Your Baby’s Microbiome by some of the world’s leading scientists and maternity care providers make this new and complex information accessible and inspiring to the general public.”—Penny Simkin, author, doula, and birth educator

“Toni Harman and Alex Wakeford shine the brightest of spotlights on the importance of birth and early infancy. Your Baby’s Microbiome is compelling and informative―a must read for parents-to-be.”—Dr. Rodney Dietert, professor of immunotoxicology, Cornell University; author of The Human Superorganism

“How we give birth and feed our babies should be choices, not something for which we should have to fight for support. A huge ‘thank you’ to Toni Harman and Alex Wakeford for adding to a critical perspective on the individual and global impacts of some of those choices, in hopes that this conversation will keep going―pushing our maternity care systems to support physiological processes, as well as medicalized ones.”—Cristen Pascucci, founder, Birth Monopoly; cocreator, Exposing the Silence Project; vice president, Improving Birth (2012–2016)