A new study in mice showed that an unhealthy vaginal microbiome in pregnant mothers in combination with an unhealthy diet contributed to increased pup deaths and altered development in the surviving babies. The findings suggest that changes in a mother’s diet, such as more fruits and vegetables, may counteract unhealthy microbiome effects in disadvantaged groups.

The researchers offset these deaths from the unhealthy vaginal microbiome by giving the mothers a healthier diet. The researchers say their findings could imply that simple interventions, such as access to a diet rich in fiber-containing fruits and vegetables, may help counteract some of the harmful effects on human babies that an unhealthy microbiome may impart — particularly in vulnerable populations.

Their findings were published on November 1, 2021, in Nature Communications.

When babies pass through the birth canal, they are exposed to their mother’s vaginal microbiome, where their skin is coated and they ingest their first microbes outside the sterile womb.

Women with certain chronic diseases, such as diabetes or high blood pressure, and those in low-resourced neighborhoods with limited access to healthcare and nutrition, are more at risk of having an unhealthy vaginal microbiome. These unhealthy vagina microbiomes have too many different kinds of bacteria, viruses, or yeast which, unlike diversity in the gut, is a bad thing in the vagina, increasing the likelihood for infections.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Black women in the U.S. have infant mortality rates 2.3 times higher than white women, and this is independent of education and income levels.

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Materials provided by University of Maryland School of Medicine. Original written by Vanessa McMains. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.