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Published online 28 April 2006 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news060424-15
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Natural birth teaches newborn gut a lesson
Babies born by caesarean may miss immune system trigger.
A messy birth could be good for the baby's digestion. So say researchers in Germany, who have found evidence that baby mice squeezing through the birth canal swallow bacterial molecules that help their gut grow healthily.
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