Numerous research firms forecast growth in the prenatal and postnatal supplement market, reflecting increased interest among expecting and new mothers.
Human clinical studies demonstrate that probiotic supplementation during pregnancy benefits both mothers and babies. A study of 67 pregnant women categorized participants into normal vaginal flora, intermediate flora, and bacterial vaginosis (BV) groups. BV is linked to health complications like spontaneous abortion and pre-term birth. Lactobacillus crispatus was the most prevalent strain in women with normal flora, followed by L. iners, L. jensenii, and L. helveticus. While L. iners was common across all groups, L. crispatus, L. jensenii, and L. helveticus decreased significantly as vaginal flora shifted to intermediate and BV states. In BV cases, lactobacilli species except L. iners were less prevalent. Strains like L. rhamnosus, L. fermentum, L. paracasei, and L. casei were absent in all vaginal samples. Researchers highlighted probiotics’ potential to prevent and treat BV, noting that L. crispatus, L. jensinii, and L. helveticus—predominant in normal flora—could be evaluated for probiotic properties. Gnosis’ Quatreflora™ (Saccharomyces cerevisiae CNCM I-3856), a beneficial yeast strain, helps manage vaginal infections and maintain microflora balance. It inhibits Gardnerella vaginalis infection, a BV form. DuPont’s HOWARU® probiotics also support prenatal and postnatal health. An Italian trial with 40 healthy women showed that an oral probiotic complex (containing La-14® and HN001™ plus lactoferrin) twice daily for 14 days led to vaginal colonization in nearly all subjects versus non-recipients. This excerpt is from “Bumping up awareness for maternal, fetal health,” originally in INSIDER’s Women’s Health digital magazine. Download it for the full article. Brenda Porter-Rockwell, a writer specializing in nutraceuticals and healthy foods, resides in North Carolina and can be contacted at brenda@writeonporter.com. References: Yeruva T et al. “Vaginal lactobacilli profile in pregnant women with normal & abnormal vaginal flora.” Indian J Med Res. 2017 Oct;146(4): 534–540. Guerra B et al. “Pregnancy outcome after early detection of bacterial vaginosis.” Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol. 2006;128(1–2):40–5. Leitich H et al. “Bacterial vaginosis as a risk factor for preterm delivery: a meta-analysis.A study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology in 2003 (Volume 189, Issue 1, pages 139-147) investigated aspects of vaginal health.
S. Sabbatini and colleagues demonstrated the efficacy of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae-based probiotic as a novel anti-microbial agent for the therapy of bacterial vaginosis. This research was published in Virulence in 2018 (Volume 9, Issue 1, pages 954-966). De Alberti D et al. found that oral consumption of the Respecta(®) complex resulted in vaginal colonisation by lactobacilli. This randomised controlled pilot study was published in Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics in 2015 (Volume 292, pages 861-867), DOI: 10.1007/s00404-015-3711-4.
