The Case for the Virgin Gut

Even the Occasional Bottle of Formula Has Its Risks

By Ann Calandro, RNC, IBCLC

Many babies who are breastfed begin their lives in hospitals that routinely supplement with artificial formulas. Sometimes babies are given artificial milk for medical reasons such as low blood sugars or because their mother is very ill. More often, they are given artificial milk for non-medical reasons, because nurses offer it to keep them quiet, or because mothers are concerned that their babies are hungry because they are nursing so often. Some mothers want to sleep and leave their baby in the nursery all night, so they ask the nurses to feed the baby formula. Innocent enough reasons – and common. So common, in fact, that very few babies leave the hospital with their virginal guts. But what happens when breast milk is not the only food in that little gut? The truth is very interesting and also very scary. Turns out, my friend was right.

When babies are born, they have sterile gastrointestinal tracts. If babies are exclusively breastfed, they develop a natural healthy gut flora. (When I speak of the gut, I mean Baby's insides where the food goes until it hits the diaper.) This means that the major flora in breastfed babies has reduced numbers of bad types of bacteria and increased numbers of good bacteria. Formula-fed babies have increased numbers of bad bacteria, leaving them at more risk for illness.

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