In a study of more than 560 mother and infant pairs, researchers from Edith Cowan University and The Kids Research Institute Australia have traced a troubling connection between antibiotics given during labour and allergy-related conditions in babies' first year. Antibiotics are a routine and often vital part of childbirth, most commonly used to guard newborns against Group B Streptococcus, and the team's working view is that they may quietly disturb the bacterial communities that help shape a newborn's immune system at a delicate moment. Yet the same inquiry offers a hopeful thread: among mot
Antibiotics During Labour Linked to Higher Infant Allergy Risk; Prebiotics Appear to Blunt the Effect
Babies exposed to antibiotics in labour were far more likely to develop allergies
Mark
So what did the researchers actually find?
Mimi
Babies whose mothers had antibiotics in labour were more likely to have allergy problems in year one. For mothers not taking prebiotics, eczema risk was more than six times higher, food allergy nearly six times, and sensitisation over three times.
Luke
Those are big ratios, but the study followed just over 560 pairs. Only about one in seven mothers had labour antibiotics, so the exposed group is fairly small.
Mark
Why does the timing matter?
Mimi
Risk showed up only with antibiotics during labour, not other points in pregnancy, breastfeeding, or given to the babies. The researchers think labour antibiotics may disrupt gut bacteria that help train the immune system around birth.
Luke
That's their hypothesis. The reporting says researchers believe it; it doesn't show the mechanism was measured.
Mark
And the prebiotics?
Mimi
Mothers who took a daily supplement from mid-pregnancy to six months after birth didn't show the same spike. That's the hopeful part.
Luke
Hopeful, yes, but it's an association within one study. It doesn't tell us prebiotics caused the difference, and we aren't told which products or doses were used.
Mark
Should mothers worry about GBS antibiotics?
Mimi
The researchers say no, don't refuse them. Ms Walker calls them lifesaving when medically necessary.
Luke
Right, and the study can't weigh that benefit against the allergy risk. That's still unanswered.
Le Pouls
- Antibiotics given during labour were tied to more than three times the risk of allergy sensitisation in infants whose mothers took no prebiotic.
- Food allergy risk climbed nearly sixfold and atopic eczema risk rose above sixfold in the same group, a signal that cannot be dismissed.
- The effect appeared only at birth; antibiotics during other pregnancy stages, breastfeeding, or in babies themselves showed no significant increase.
- Researchers are pressing a clear line: women should never refuse antibiotics their doctors judge necessary, since they can be lifesaving.
- Daily maternal prebiotics from mid-pregnancy to six months postpartum appeared to erase the spike, and further trials are now needed to confirm this shield.
In a study of more than 560 mother and infant pairs, researchers from Edith Cowan University and The Kids Research Institute Australia have traced a troubling connection between antibiotics given during labour and allergy-related conditions in babies' first year. Antibiotics are a routine and often vital part of childbirth, most commonly used to guard newborns against Group B Streptococcus, and the team's working view is that they may quietly disturb the bacterial communities that help shape a newborn's immune system at a delicate moment. Yet the same inquiry offers a hopeful thread: among mothers who took a daily prebiotic supplement, the heightened risk did not appear, suggesting that the gut's early inhabitants might be guided toward protection. For a country already burdened with some of the world's highest childhood allergy rates, the finding invites patient reflection rather than alarm.
Researchers at Edith Cowan University and The Kids Research Institute Australia have found that babies born to mothers who received antibiotics during labour were far more likely to develop allergy-related conditions in their first year. The study followed more than 560 mothers and their infants, and about one in seven mothers had antibiotics during labour, most often to prevent the spread of Group B Streptococcus, a dangerous infection for newborns. Antibiotic use was common across pregnancy and infancy, with over 80 per cent of mothers exposed at some point.
The starkest results came from mothers who did not take a prebiotic supplement. In that group, labour antibiotics were linked to more than three times the risk of allergy sensitisation, nearly six times the risk of food allergy, and more than six times the risk of atopic eczema. Australia already faces some of the highest childhood allergy rates in the world, so the findings carry real weight. The team believes antibiotics may disrupt the healthy gut bacteria that help train the immune system during the critical period around birth.
The effect was tied tightly to timing. Antibiotics at other points in pregnancy, during breastfeeding, or given to the babies themselves in their first six months showed no significant rise in risk. Most encouragingly, mothers who took a daily prebiotic from mid-pregnancy until six months after birth did not show the same increase in their children.
Lead author Summer Walker, a PhD student at ECU, stressed that labour antibiotics can be lifesaving and should be used whenever medically necessary. The researchers were clear that women should not refuse advised treatment. The study, published in Allergy: European Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, now points toward further research on whether prebiotics can protect babies exposed to antibiotics at birth.
Researchers at Edith Cowan University and The Kids Research Institute Australia have reported that babies whose mothers received antibiotics during labour were far more likely to develop allergy-related conditions in their first year of life. The finding comes from a study that followed more than 560 mothers and their babies.
About one in seven of the mothers in the study was given antibiotics during labour. The most common reason was to prevent the spread of Group B Streptococcus, known as GBS, an infection that can be dangerous for newborns. More broadly, over 80 per cent of the mothers were exposed to antibiotics at some point between the middle of pregnancy and six months after birth, which shows how routine the treatment is.
The numbers for one group of mothers stand out. Among those who did not take a prebiotic supplement, antibiotics during labour were linked to more than three times the risk of allergy sensitisation in their babies. The risk of food allergy was nearly six times higher, and the risk of atopic eczema was more than six times higher. Australia already has some of the highest childhood allergy rates in the world, with growing numbers of children affected by food allergies and eczema.
The pattern was specific to timing. The researchers found no significant increase in allergy risk when antibiotics were taken at other stages of pregnancy, during breastfeeding, or by the babies themselves in their first six months.
The team's working explanation is that antibiotics may disrupt the healthy gut bacteria that help train a baby's developing immune system at a critical time around birth.
The study also found something that may point toward a remedy. Mothers who took a daily prebiotic supplement, from the middle of pregnancy until six months after birth, did not show the same spike in allergy risk in their babies.
Lead author Summer Walker, a PhD student at ECU, said the work could open the door to new ways of tackling the country's growing allergy problem. "Antibiotics during labour can be lifesaving and should always be used when medically necessary," she said. She added that the findings suggest there may be unintended effects on a baby's developing immune system, and that mothers taking prebiotics did not show the same increase in allergy-related outcomes in their children.
The researchers were direct on one point: the results are not a reason for women to refuse antibiotics when their doctors recommend them. The study, titled Maternal Prebiotic Supplementation Modifies Associations Between Intrapartum Antibiotics and Infant Allergy, has been published online in Allergy: European Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. What to watch for is whether further research tests prebiotics as a way to protect babies who are exposed to antibiotics at birth.
Citations marquantes
Antibiotics during labour can be lifesaving and should always be used when medically necessary.— Summer Walker, lead author, Edith Cowan University
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