Cesarean sections are many times medically necessary, but there are some health impacts to babies as a result and now there may be a way to change that. NY1's Erin Billups filed the following report.

Babies born vaginally are coated with fluid, a rich community of organisms - a microbiome - that a growing body of research shows can help protect the child from health problems like asthma and allergies. 

"These are the first microbes you are exposed to. We think, well, what if that first impression is actually important for how the immune system gets to recognize what a good microbe is or bad microbe is," explains Jose Clemente, an assistant professor at the Icahn Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology.

Clemente and his team think they have found a way to expose a cesarean-born child to the same protective microbiome that a baby born vaginally benefits from so that, in theory, the child will have a reduced risk of developing health problems.

"We’re taking c-section born babies and make their microbiome shift towards a vaginal-like state. It’s not exactly like vaginally delivered babies. But what we’re hoping is that this procedure is putting them on the right track," says Clemente.

The procedure can only be performed on women free of STDs or other harmful pathogens.

Doctors place a sterile gauze into the vaginal canal for an hour before the c-section, then place it in a sterile container when the surgery begins. Once the baby is removed doctors immediately rub the guaze on its mouth, face and body, in effect passing the mother's vaginal microbiome to her child.

"In skin we show that they are 40 percent more similar to vaginally delivered babies that c-section babies that were not exposed," notes Clemente.

They also found a 25 percent improvement in the microbiome of the mouth.

The experiment has been performed on four newborns. Clemente says he's now expanding the study and will follow the children long term, to see if it improves their overall health. 

"I think this could be huge. It can mean that you change how c-sections are performed," he adds.

Doctors warn the procedure should only be done in a controlled environment, immediately after birth when the baby is still sterile. So please, do not try this on babies at home. 

The study was published in the February issue of Nature Medicine. It's a collaboration between the Icahn Institute of Genomics and Multiscale Biology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and NYU Langone Medical Center. 

If you're interested in participating in the research contact Dr. Clemente at help@clementelab.org with “C-section study” in the subject line.