Eileen Goodwin writes in the New Zealand Herald about a New Zealand-based study which hopes to find out whether a mother’s saliva (shared with her baby through kisses) can benefit her baby.
An excerpt: (read in full here)
“The University of Otago study aims to determine if newborns can receive, and establish, good bacteria that have been introduced to their mother’s mouths.
“Pregnant women will suck a probiotic lozenge each day of the last month of their pregnancy to colonise their mouths with the bacteria associated with preventing sore throats and ear infections.
“”There has been no study like this before,” Professor John Tagg said.”