About 25% of women in the United States are obese prior to becoming pregnant. Although there is some knowledge about the relationship between the fecal bacterial community and obesity, there is little knowledge about the relationship between pre-pregnancy obesity and the gastrointestinal microbiota in pregnancy and infancy. We are in the first phases of developing birth cohorts in the state of Michigan to assess the associations between pre-pregnancy obesity and maternal and infant gastrointestinal microbial communities. Women were recruited at Obstetric/Gynecological offices in the greater Lansing and Traverse City areas. To date, 45 mother/infant dyads have enrolled. Participants complete questionnaires as well as submit fecal samples. Fecal samples are collected from the mother in her third trimester of pregnancy and from the infants at one week, six months, 12 months and 24 months of age. This research population is unique because the majority of participating moms are unmarried, have not graduated from college, and have an annual household income of less than $25,000. 35% of the currently enrolled moms had smoked at some point in their life. Of the 43 moms from whom we’ve collected fecal samples, 35% are obese (BMI≥30), 32.5% are overweight (25≤BMI<30) and 32.5% are normal weight (18.5≤BMI<25). In my talk, I will present data from preliminary analyses of the fecal bacterial communities of these pregnant women and their infants.
Sponsored by the Host Microbiome Initiative