Birth mode-dependent association between pre-pregnancy maternal weight status and the neonatal intestinal microbiome

The intestinal microbiome is a unique ecosystem that influences metabolism in humans. Experimental evidence indicates that intestinal microbiota can transfer an obese phenotype from humans to mice. Since mothers transmit intestinal microbiota to their offspring during labor, we hypothesized that among vaginal deliveries, maternal body mass index is associated with neonatal gut microbiota composition. We report the association of maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index on stool microbiota from 74 neonates, 18 born vaginally (5 to overweight or obese mothers) and 56 by elective C-section (26 to overweight or obese mothers). Compared to neonates delivered vaginally to normal weight mothers, neonates born to overweight or obese mothers had a distinct gut microbiota community structure (weighted UniFrac distance PERMANOVA, p