Mother’s milk protects the baby’s gut

A mother’s breast milk can protect her baby against rotavirus, a gastrointestinal infection that causes diarrhea, vomiting and fever.

Babies whose mothers had high levels of antibodies in their breast milk were able to fend off infection far longer than infants whose mothers had lower levels, researchers from the University of Rochester Medical Centre have discovered.

Antibody levels varied between wealthy and developing nations, and women who were overweight or obese also had lower levels.  The researchers tested milk samples from 695 women in Finland, the US, Pakistan, Peru and Bangladesh to gauge the difference in IgA and IgC antibody levels that protect against gut viruses.

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