No abstract

Childbearing and infant care practices have dramatically evolved since the 15th century. Shifting away from traditional home-based experiences, with the emergence of the microbial aware era and the hospital as a quintessential sanitizing machine, early life has now long been characterized as a condition to be medically managed. Paradoxically, this ‘germ-free’ march towards a healthier early life environment has opened the door to greater microbial susceptibility and dysbiosis. Many studies have now established that infant exposure to excessive sanitation and hygiene regimens are associated with an increased risk for and onset of childhood immune system diseases. In this paper, we explore the ways in which biomedical-centered efforts to enhance early life have come at a cost to planetary health, in relation to infant microbial succession. We examine three major areas of early life that have been subject to the ‘ripple effect’ of hygiene and sanitation concerns—childbirth, home environment, and breastfeeding.

No abstract

No abstract