Following this thought on (which is only just dawning on me as I write this article!) this actually has to be true.

After antibiotics another huge factor in the development of a baby’s gut bacteria is whether they have been born vaginally or by C-section. Research has clearly shown that the gut bacteria from these different types of birth varies considerably, the C-section babies having less “good” bacteria because a baby normally picks up their bacteria from the mothers vagina during the natural birthing process.

So when born by C -section they miss this process, have altered gut bacteria which leads to increased chances of colic.

Back to the hospitals then; if different hospitals around the country (or world even) have differing rates of C - section deliveries then in fact there could be differing rates of colic in those areas. As it stands C-section rates are up to 25% of all deliveries last year.

I don’t suppose any mothers that fall into that category were given any hint or advice that their baby may be at greater risk of colic?

And certainly not to use a specific probiotic to help their child if this was the case?

Or even beyond this, if they are scheduled in for a planned C-section then they could have been fortifying themselves with probiotics in their last trimester to make sure their breast milk is of optimum quality.

I even found a fascinating study that mothers who were deficient in their first trimester in B12 had babies that cried more! How does that work? I’ve no idea about the specifics, the researchers didn’t even have a guess either. I do know though that we all need an adequate supply of vitamins and minerals and even more for a pregnant mother who is also supplying her growing foetus.

All mothers know to supplement folic acid, I feel this is misleading because it makes this single nutrient the most important in their mind, I think mothers should supplement with a high quality multi vitamin and mineral to give them a boost of all the nutrients, just in case.

The Future health of our children

As I was researching and writing Calming Colic it began to dawn on me that I was perhaps finding issues that could shape the future health of our children.

This is a difficult concept to put across because colic is only short lived, although 12 weeks of colic can feel like an eternity I’m told (my two boys didn’t have colic!).

I’m not saying that colic has long lasting effects, I’m saying that the causes that may have triggered colic can have longer lasting effects. More recently this has become more understood and even as I wrote the last page of Calming Colic some new research was released that I went back and included.

In this research 11,000 babies were followed and at three years of age the babies that had had antibiotics when they were under six months old were 22 percent more likely to be obese.

At last then an indicator that my ideas might be correct, that antibiotics in early life are detrimental in the future, in this case being linked to obesity. Can we further assume from this that if you follow the advice in this ebook and use friendly probiotics to correct antibiotic use that future diseases can be prevented?

I think it must be so to some degree especially as so many modern diseases are being linked to altered gut bacteria.

Everyone knows now that poor diet is bad for us and today’s chronic diseases are mostly caused by poor diet and a toxic environment.

Why not apply these facts to the health of our babies?

Ten or so years ago I made a decision to ask every breast feeding mother about the diet they were eating when breast feeding. This came about after having an extremely colicky baby coming to see me for cranial osteopathy. After a few treatments the cranial side of things was feeling great but the baby was still so windy and upset. So we tried a couple more treatments as maybe there was still room for improvement?

Still no change, but in this treatment the mother mentioned she drank two litres of Coke per day. Is it a surprise her baby was windy! The baby’s colic immediately went after she stopped drinking Coke, she hadn’t realised that what she ate was passed to her child, she had been told it didn’t matter what she ate as long as she keep her calories high to give her energy.

This thinking is very common and I have addressed basic advice in my book too, backing it up with research where possible.

In conclusion I think that Calming Colic goes against NHS thinking somewhat in a positive way in that I believe I have a formula to calm colic.

It may not be a magic bullet in that it works instantly, although it can be fairly quick, but it will certainly make a real, noticeable, long term improvement.

And it will certainly be quicker than waiting 12 weeks!

On top of this Calming Colic gives parents answers, colic is such a mystery and parents want to help their distressed baby. If at least they understand more about the mechanisms behind that distress then they can start working on those and feel like they are participating in helping their newborn.

Christian Bates has been an osteopath and naturopath for 19 years. He works from The Perrymount Clinic in Haywards Heath. 01444 410944. christian@theperrymount.com. www.calmingcolic.com