From the Directors of the Award-Winning Documentary Microbirth At least two amazing events happen during childbirth. There’s the obvious main event, which is the emergence of a new human into the world. But there’s another event taking place simultaneously, a crucial event that is not visible to the naked eye, an event that could determine the lifelong health of the baby. This is the seeding of the baby’s microbiome, the community of “good” bacteria that we carry with us throughout our lives. The seeding of the microbiome, along with breastfeeding and skin-to-skin contact, kick-starts the baby’s immune system and helps protect the infant from disease across a lifetime. Researchers are discovering, however, that interventions such as the use of synthetic oxytocin, antibiotics, C-sections, and formula feeding interfere with, or bypass completely, the microbial transfer from mother to baby. These bacteria are vital for human health, and science has linked an imbalance in the human microbiome with multiple chronic diseases. Drawing on the extensive research they carried out for their documentary film Microbirth, authors Toni Harman and Alex Wakeford reveal a fascinating new view of birth and how microscopic happenings can have lifelong consequences, for ourselves, our children—and our species as a whole.

At least two amazing events happen during childbirth. There's the obvious main event, which is the emergence of a new human into the world. But then there's the non-human event that is taking place simultaneously, a crucial event that is not visible to the naked eye, an event that could determine the lifelong health of the baby. This is the seeding of the baby's microbiome, the community of good bacteria that we carry with us throughout our lives. The seeding of the microbiome, along with other processes including breastfeeding, kickstarts the baby's immune system and helps to protect the infant from disease for its entire lifetime. However, with interventions like use of synthetic oxytocin, antibiotics, C-section and formula feeding, this microbial transfer from the mother to baby is interfered with or bypassed completely. Emerging research shows that bacteria are absolutely vital for human health, and imbalances in the human microbiome significantly contribute to chronic non-transmissible diseases. Drawing on the extensive research they carried out for their documentary film Microbirth, authors Toni Harman and Alex Wakeford reveal a fascinating new view of birth, and how microscopic happenings can have lifelong consequences, both for ourselves, our children and our species as a whole."

Worried about how allergies will affect your children? From conception through pregnancy and the first two years, this authoritative guide from a leading gastroenterologist shows you how to prevent allergies and optimize gut health in your baby. For many families, eczema, asthma, hay fever and food allergies are constant anxieties, sometimes with devastating consequences. But what if there was a way to prevent allergies from the start? What if early lifestyle changes could change your baby’s life? In The Healthy Baby Gut Guide, Dr. Vincent Ho lays out a simple yet effective plan for optimizing your baby’s gut health in the first 1000 days after conception. Dr. Ho shares sensible advice, surprising scientific discoveries from the exploding medical field of gut health, and a nutritionist-approved nine-week infant meal plan. Practical, easy-to-follow, and eye-opening, this book is essential reading for every parent and parent-to-be.

From two of the world’s top scientists and one of the world’s top science writers (all parents), Dirt Is Good is a q&a-based guide to everything you need to know about kids & germs. “Is it OK for my child to eat dirt?” That’s just one of the many questions authors Jack Gilbert and Rob Knight are bombarded with every week from parents all over the world. They've heard everything from “My two-year-old gets constant ear infections. Should I give her antibiotics? Or probiotics?” to “I heard that my son’s asthma was caused by a lack of microbial exposure. Is this true, and if so what can I do about it now?” Google these questions, and you’ll be overwhelmed with answers. The internet is rife with speculation and misinformation about the risks and benefits of what most parents think of as simply germs, but which scientists now call the microbiome: the combined activity of all the tiny organisms inside our bodies and the surrounding environment that have an enormous impact on our health and well-being. Who better to turn to for answers than Drs. Gilbert and Knight, two of the top scientists leading the investigation into the microbiome—an investigation that is producing fascinating discoveries and bringing answers to parents who want to do the best for their young children. Dirt Is Good is a comprehensive, authoritative, accessible guide you've been searching for.

A revolutionary parenting book that draws on cutting-edge research to reveal that the key to raising happy and healthy babies lies in carefully protecting and caring for their microbiomes. A baby’s immune system develops rapidly in the first 1,000 days of life, with the first six months and year being most important. In The Baby and the Biome, Meenal Lele, medical researcher and founder of Lil Mixins, the #1 pediatrician-recommended allergy-prevention product , explains how diet, environmental toxins, antibiotics, and even common parenting practices can damage the delicate balance of our children’s microbiomes, thereby increasing the risk for a host of immune diseases, including eczema, asthma, food allergies, IBS, and more. Lele discovered firsthand how critical our microbiomes are to our overall health when she sought to understand the root causes for her son’s food allergies. Drawing on her medical background and through extensive research and interviews with scientists and doctors, Lele discovered the simple, practical steps that all parents and pregnant moms can take to help foster a healthy and protective microbiome in their baby. The Baby and the Biome will empower parents to protect and safeguard their children’s health for years to come.

Raising a bright and happy child starts during pregnancy and early infancy, when small changes can have a big impact on brain development. ​ By taking advantage of this golden window of opportunity--when millions of new brain cells are formed every single day--you can help support your child's IQ, language development, memory, attention span, and emotional regulation. Importantly, the same strategies that nurture these cognitive abilities can also help reduce the odds of autism and ADHD, conditions that now impact 1 in 10 children. Brain Health from Birth is your guide to this new scientific frontier, explaining which key nutrients may be missing from your prenatal supplement, how to reduce the odds of preterm birth, what to look for in a formula, how to support your baby's microbiome, and much more. With contributions from leading obstetricians and pediatricians, science writer Rebecca Fett (author of the bestselling fertility book It Starts with the Egg) brings you practical advice you can start applying today, to help your baby thrive.

A critically important and startling look at the harmful effects of overusing antibiotics, from the field's leading expert Tracing one scientist's journey toward understanding the crucial importance of the microbiome, this revolutionary book will take readers to the forefront of trail-blazing research while revealing the damage that overuse of antibiotics is doing to our health: contributing to the rise of obesity, asthma, diabetes, and certain forms of cancer. In Missing Microbes, Dr. Martin Blaser invites us into the wilds of the human microbiome where for hundreds of thousands of years bacterial and human cells have existed in a peaceful symbiosis that is responsible for the health and equilibrium of our body. Now, this invisible eden is being irrevocably damaged by some of our most revered medical advances—antibiotics—threatening the extinction of our irreplaceable microbes with terrible health consequences. Taking us into both the lab and deep into the fields where these troubling effects can be witnessed firsthand, Blaser not only provides cutting edge evidence for the adverse effects of antibiotics, he tells us what we can do to avoid even more catastrophic health problems in the future.