Posted on 10/12/2025 7:24:55 PM PDT by ConservativeMind
Research has found the first clear evidence that the "good" gut bacteria Bifidobacterium breve in pregnant mothers regulates the placenta's production of hormones critical for a healthy pregnancy.
In a study in mice, the researchers compared the placentas of mice with no gut bacteria to those of mice with Bifidobacterium breve in their gut during pregnancy.
Pregnant mice without Bifidobacterium breve in their gut had a higher rate of complications including fetal growth restriction and fetal low blood sugar, and increased fetal loss.
This gut bacteria seems to play a crucial role in prompting the placenta to produce pregnancy hormones that allow the mother's body to support the pregnancy.
The placenta is a crucial organ during pregnancy that connects the mother to the fetus, and provides the nutrients, oxygen and hormones essential for healthy development of the baby.
The mice with Bifidobacterium breve in their gut lost fewer of their pregnancies. Their placentas were better at absorbing and transporting nutrients, like amino acids and lactate, from mother to fetus—vital for fetal growth. Their placentas also produced more of the hormones important for pregnancy, such as prolactins and pregnancy-specific glycoproteins.
Using mice allowed them to pinpoint the importance of Bifidobacterium breve—a finding that is also relevant to human pregnancies.
Bifidobacterium breve occurs naturally in the human gut microbiome, but in pregnant women the levels of this "good" bacteria can be altered by stress or obesity. It is widely available as a supplement in probiotic drinks and tablets.
The babies of up to 10% of first-time mothers have low birth weight or fetal growth restriction. If a baby doesn't grow properly in the womb, there is an increased risk of conditions like cerebral palsy in infants, and anxiety, depression, autism, and schizophrenia in later life.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
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It is commonly available in supplements and some yogurts and kefirs.
You have to be careful translating animal data to humans. Our last common ancestor with mice lives 80-90 million years ago.
I wasted much time developing a product that worked in rodents but not humans.
Not saying it won’t work in humans, just that we are primates, not rodents.
I eat nonfat greek yogurt every night for dessert. Trader Joe;s is the only store that has nonfat yogurt and my fave flavor. Other stores have a variety of flavors but none carry nonfat. No other store in town that has Black Raspberry flavor, my fave, and nonfat yogurt., because I don’t eat saturated fats.
Yum and healthful dessert.
What can a kefir or yogurt do to hurt a pregnant woman?
Pickle beer and lots of it.
Eat labne, greek yogurt before there were Greeks.
Bkmk
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