How baby’s first poo could help predict allergies

It turns out a baby’s first poo can tell us a lot more about their health than was originally thought.

In a new study published in Cell Reports Medicine, a team of University of British Columbia (UBC) researchers found a sign in baby’s first poo, meconium, that could indicate if they will develop allergies later on.

“Our analysis revealed that newborns who developed allergic sensitisation by one year of age had significantly less ‘rich’ meconium at birth, compared to those who didn’t develop allergic sensitization,” says the study’s senior co-author Dr. Brett Finlay.

“Meconium is like a time capsule”

Meconium is a thick, green, tar-like substance that lines baby’s intestines while in the womb. It’s then released during their first poo post-birth (sometimes this can happen before they are born).

The study’s lead author Dr Charisse Petersen says, “Meconium is like a time capsule, revealing what the infant was exposed to before it was born.

“It contains all sorts of molecules encountered and accumulated from the mother while in the womb, and it then becomes the initial food source for the earliest gut microbes.”

The study looked at the meconium of 100 babies. Researchers found the fewer different types of molecules a baby’s meconium contained, the greater the child’s risk of developing allergies by the time they are one year old.

Additionally, they found that a reduction of certain molecules had an impact on bacterial groups that play a “critical role in the development and maturation of a vast ecosystem of gut microbes, known as the microbiota – a powerful player in health and disease,” says Science Daily.

Help identify at-risk kids

So what does this all mean?

Dr Petersen says, “This work shows that the development of a healthy immune system and microbiota may actually start well before a child is born — and signals that the tiny molecules an infant is exposed to in the womb play a fundamental role in the future health.”

While the study was only small, researchers hope their findings will help to identify children who are “at-risk” of developing allergies.

“We know that children with allergies are at the highest risk of also developing asthma,” says the study’s senior co-author Dr Stuart Turvey.