Dr. Eliza Bennett
Dr. Bennett stressed that she, like Dr. Kumetz, does not discuss the practice with patients unless they bring it up themselves. For women who do request it, nurses have been trained in the practice, she said, and “we have established really strict exclusion criteria,” including repeat screening for group B strep, HIV, genital herpes, and sexually transmitted infections during pregnancy.
Dr. Bennett said she would much rather emphasize the safer, evidence-based practices already in place at her hospital to promote microbiome development in C-section newborns. These include delaying the first bath until after 12 hours, placing babies directly on mothers’ skin in the operating room in the first minutes post delivery, and “offering the ability for moms to breastfeed right in the OR,” she said.
Like Dr. Streicher and Dr. Kumetz, Dr. Bennett said she’s not expecting to see data resolving the questions about the risks and benefits of vaginal seeding anytime soon.
“Instead of focusing on vaginal seeding, we should continue to focus our efforts on decreasing cesarean delivery rates and ensuring and encouraging appropriate candidates to have the opportunity to have a trial of labor after cesarean delivery,” she said.
Avoiding C-section, she added, “confers multiple maternal and fetal benefits beyond the microbiome.”