Breast Feeding Shapes the Infant Microbiome
Breastfeeding plays a foundational role in shaping the infant microbiome during a narrow and highly influential developmental window. Human milk is not simply nutrition; it is a biologically active fluid containing complex sugars called human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), immunoglobulins such as secretory IgA, antimicrobial peptides, cytokines, growth factors, and even live immune cells.