“…Studies using combinations of quantitative PCR (qPCR), fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and next-generation sequencing techniques propose the existence of a "placental microbiome" [1,2,[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. More generally, bacterial species were found in placenta, amniotic fluid, fetal gut, meconium and the neonate's mouth, suggesting a microbial colonization of the fetus [1,15,19]. Interestingly, reports indicated that variations in the bacterial composition of the "placental microbiome" were associated with pregnancy outcomes such as preterm birth, chorioamnionitis, macrosomia, gestational diabetes mellitus, excess gestational weight gain, low birth weight, and pre-eclampsia [2,8,9,11,17,18,[20][21][22][23].…”