Encore: Birth, the microbiome, and your baby's lifelong immunity with Toni Harman

When Toni Harman launched her award-winning documentary, MICROBIRTH, she wanted to shout from the rooftops about the critical microscopic events happening during pregnancy, birth, and breastfeeding.

She believes that this is critical knowledge that every healthcare professional should know about and should care about to help empower parents with full informed choice.

After all, the infant microbiome is a field of science that strongly supports vaginal birth (when possible), immediate skin-to-skin contact, and exclusive breastfeeding. This enables the optimal training of the infant immune system to benefit a child's lifelong health.

That's why she created the Microbirth School, an online course offering continuing education for healthcare professionals.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How Toni went from filming horror films to filming childbirth (0:35)
• What is the microbiome (4:46)
• Supporting a healthy pregnancy (12:43)
• Being obsessed with cleanliness isn’t always good (17:13)
• Benefits of living on a farm (19:20)
• How to support your baby’s microbiome if you have a c-section (25:15)
• Can a Mom request Swab Seeding? (31:07)
• Do your own research and raise your kids in the best way you can (32:25)
• Be excited about the microbiome and open your mind to new possibilities (34:49)
• Where to study the microbiome (35:55)

Get the Microbirth book here:

Your Baby's Microbiome: The Critical Role of Vaginal Birth and Breastfeeding for Lifelong Health

Check out these helpful links to learn more about the Microbirth Documentary, Microbirth.com, Microbirth School, Twitter, and Facebook.