How Probiotics Can Save Your Baby’s Life

Giving probiotics to infants can prevent one of the most common causes of death in infants. . . .


Simply giving newborns probiotics can prevent one of the most common causes of death in infants in developing countries. But the benefit extends to wealthy countries too.

Infantile sepsis is infection that is usually caused by the baby picking up microorganisms from the mother as it passes through the birth canal during delivery. Infantile sepsis causes a million deaths worldwide each year. It is a leading cause of death in developing countries, but it also affects one in four infants with low birth weight in the United States. Tragically, there is currently no efficient way of preventing it.

This placebo-controlled study included 4,556 breastfed infants who were no more than 5 weeks premature and who weighed at least 4.4 pounds when they were born. None of the babies had sepsis. Between 2 and 4 days after being born, the babies were given either a week of probiotics or a placebo. The probiotic supplement was Lactobacillus plantarum plus fructooligosaccharide (FOS), a prebiotic that makes the probiotic work better. The researchers then followed the babies for 6 days.

Impressively, they found that this simple, safe, inexpensive strategy reduced infant deaths by a significant 40%: 6 of the infants who were given the placebo died compared to 4 who were given the probiotic. Put another way, 9% of babies with sepsis died in the placebo group compared to 5.4% in the probiotic group. The babies who were given the probiotic not only had less risk of developing sepsis, they also had fewer respiratory tract infections and other infections and greater weight gain.

The researchers conclude that “a large proportion of neonatal sepsis in developing countries could be effectively prevented” by using L. plantarum with FOS.

Nature 2017;548:407-12

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