Probiotics and Synbiotics in Lactating Mothers

Abstract

Human milk is a complex species-specific biological fluid adapted to perfectly satisfy the nutritional and immunological needs of the neonate. The effects of maternal diet on the composition of breast milk are still of interest. There has been increasing interest in the supplements intake, specially probiotics in the pregnancy and lactation periods. In this chapter, the effect of maternal probiotic or synbiotic supplements intake on maternal nutritional status and human milk microbial, immune and antioxidant composition will be studied. A few studies have been done on the effect of probiotics or synbiotics supplementation in lactating mothers on maternal nutritional status, breast milk composition, and infants' growth, and the results were controversial. So, large-scale studies using different species of probiotic bacteria and longer duration of supplementation are necessary to make concise conclusions. é 2016 Elsevier Inc.