When mothers initially feed their babies, they make them lie on their laps, however, the same position may not be safe when the baby is feeding off the bottle.

It is important to feed your baby through the bottle in a semi-upright position and support their head. Do not feed them lying down, as formula or the milk from the bottle can flow into the middle ear, and cause infection. Also, unlike breast and its nipple, the bottle does not have the mechanism to ensure that milk is being overflowed. Also, in order to prevent your little ones from swallowing air as they suck, tilt the bottle so that the formula fills the neck of the bottles and covers the nipple.

How can you choose the right bottle for you?

While some babies happily drink from any bottle, some are much pickier. Yes, you read it right, babies need different bottles, based on how their bodies react after being fed.

If you have a baby with gas, it is best to try a bottle with a venting system. Now, this allows your baby to avoid air in the milk while feeding. Such bottles mimic the shape and feel of a breast or an actual nipple. Bottles with fewer parts are also easier to clean, which could be great during the middle-of-the-night feedings.

For new moms, it is also a great advice to start with a slow-flow nipple to avoid overwhelming your baby and switch to a faster flow when they seem to hold the bottle themselves and can finish milk in less time.

What should you follow when you bottle feed your baby?

As per the National Health Scheme (UK), NHS UK, it is important to be prepared to experiment well with the kind of bottles that suits your baby the best. Thee is no evidence that only one type of teat or bottle is better than any other.

It is always best to ensure that you screw the top tightly into the bottle before you feed your baby.

Bottle Feeding and The Right Positions

Bottle feeding is more than just feeding and nourishing your baby, it is also an opportunity to bond with your babies. Babies also feel secure when their caregivers are feeding. This is why it is important that even before you start bottle feeding, you first find a comfortable spot to sit with your baby close to you. Look at them and gently hold the and talk as you feed.

Hold your baby in a semi-upright position during bottle feeds, with their head supported. This ensures they can breathe and swallow comfortably. Brush the teat gently against their lips, and when they open their mouth wide, let them draw the teat in.

Take your time—babies feed at their own pace, so be patient and allow them plenty of time to enjoy their meal.

Do not leave your baby un-monitored

Always supervise your baby during feeding sessions. Do not prop the bottle or leave them alone with it. This can also cause choking hazard, or the milk could pool in their mouth which could increase ear infections.

The bottle's position matters as much as baby's position. When feeding, hold the bottle in a horizontal position, tipping it slightly. This helps the milk flow steadily and reduces the amount of air your baby may swallow. If the teat flattens, gently pull the corner of your baby’s mouth to release the suction. Should the teat become blocked, replace it with a fresh, sterile one.

Rare infections transmitted from a pregnant woman to her baby may be linked to a higher risk of autism and intellectual disability, according to a large new study.

Researchers at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden found that children with congenital TORCH infections had about three times the risk of autism compared with children without these infections.

What Is TORCH?

TORCH refers to infections that can be transmitted from mother to foetus during pregnancy, including:

• T = Toxoplasma
• O = Other (including infections such as syphilis):
• R = Rubella
• C = Cytomegalovirus (CMV)
• H = Herpes simplex virus

These infections can cross the placenta and infect the developing fetus.

“It is important to emphasize that it is unusual for these infections to be transmitted from mother to child. They account for a very small proportion of all cases of autism in the population, but for those children who are actually affected, we see a clearly elevated risk of both autism and intellectual disability,” said Reneé Gardner, a researcher at the Department of Global Public Health at Karolinska Institutet.

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TORCH Infections And Autism Risk

Published in JAMA Pediatrics, the study analysed data from 3.7 million people born in Sweden between 1987 and 2021. Of these, 975 had a diagnosed congenital TORCH infection. The participants were followed for up to three decades.

Compared with children without a congenital TORCH infection, those with one were:

• About three times more likely to be diagnosed with autism
• More than seven times more likely to have an intellectual disability
• Up to 30 times more likely to have severe to profound intellectual disability

What Did The Sibling Comparison Show?

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The researchers also compared children with TORCH infections with their unaffected siblings to assess whether shared family factors could explain the findings.

The results were similar, suggesting that the associations were not explained solely by factors shared within families.

No clear association was found between TORCH infections and ADHD or obsessive-compulsive disorder. However, children with the infections had poorer academic performance on average, even when they did not have an autism or intellectual disability diagnosis.

Can TORCH Infections Be Prevented?

“Although these congenital infections are rare, some of them can be prevented, which makes them important from a public health perspective,” Gardner said.

The researchers also noted that rubella has virtually disappeared in Sweden following the introduction of national vaccination program. The prevention also depends on the infection:

• Toxoplasmosis: Avoid raw or undercooked meat, wash produce and take precautions when handling cat feces.
• Syphilis and other infections: Pregnancy screening and appropriate treatment can reduce transmission.
• Rubella: MMR vaccination before pregnancy can prevent infection.
• CMV: Good hand hygiene and avoiding contact with young children's saliva and urine can reduce exposure.
• Herpes simplex: Identifying and managing genital herpes during pregnancy can reduce the risk of transmission to the newborn. Caesarean delivery may be recommended in some cases when active lesions are present during labor.

We may now have a clearer explanation behind ‘mommy brain’ or ‘momnesia’. Walking into a room and forgetting why you went there or losing track of a conversation is not simply a side effect of becoming a mother.

A new study has discerned a possible explanation for the phenomenon commonly known as “momnesia,” “pregnancy brain” or “mommy brain”. The findings were published in Science Bulletin.

According to the study, persistent high levels of estrogen during pregnancy may disrupt a particular brain circuit involved in memory.

Researchers found that high estrogen affected communication between the hypothalamus and hippocampus, two brain regions involved in regulating different aspects of brain function, including memory.

What Is “Momnesia”?

Pregnancy-related forgetfulness is generally considered to be temporary changes in memory and cognition during pregnancy.

Researchers say forgetfulness can become noticeable in late pregnancy stage and may continue well into the postpartum period before improving.

Women may have trouble recalling names or words, keeping track of events or completing everyday tasks.

According to the author of the study Dr Zheng Sun of Baylor College of Medicine, about 80% of pregnant women report these changes. The researchers say that this condition does not appear to be a decline in intelligence or cognitive ability.

According to Reuters, Dr Yanlin He, another study leader, said, “The important point is that pregnancy does not simply make someone ‘less intelligent.’ The effects appear to be more subtle and specific to certain cognitive tasks.”

Also read: Vitamin D & Pregnancy: Could Vitamin D Deficiency Increase Risk Of Premature Birth?

Link Between Pregnancy Hormones And Memory

During pregnancy, estrogen levels increase drastically and reach its peak during the third trimester.

The researchers focused on estrogen receptor alpha in neurons located in the lateral hypothalamus. In experiments based on mice who were exposed to high estrogen level conditions like in pregnancy, these neurons became more active.

Those neurons send signals to the hippocampus, a brain region crucial for memory formation. The researchers found that increased activity in this region suppressed hippocampal activity and impaired performance on memory tests.

When researchers switched off the hypothalamus-to-hippocampus pathway, the memory problems in the mice were prevented. Activating the pathway, meanwhile, impaired memory even without elevated estrogen.

Removing estrogen receptors from the hypothalamic neurons also reversed the estrogen-related memory problems in the mice.

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Does Pregnancy Actually Make You Forgetful?

The researchers also assessed memory in 70 women, including women at different stages of pregnancy and women who were not pregnant.

Memory problems surfaced during late pregnancy stages and were linked with higher circulating estrogen levels. The researchers reported changes across several memory-related tasks.

But it is important to note that the researchers did not directly measure or manipulate this specific brain circuit in pregnant women. That means the human findings support the mechanism observed in mice, but do not prove that exactly the same circuit causes memory changes during human pregnancy.

The study has cemented evidence that many pregnant women experience forgetfulness, but it does not mean pregnancy causes permanent memory loss. For most women, pregnancy-related forgetfulness generally improves after childbirth.

The gut microbiome may influence how type 1 diabetes develops in children at high genetic risk, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that children whose gut microbiome stopped developing early had about three times the risk of developing type 1 diabetes or the immune attack that precedes it, compared with those whose microbiomes continued to mature.

The findings, published in Nature Metabolism, also showed that genetics influenced how strongly some microbiome patterns were associated with disease risk.

Type 1 diabetes affects more than 9 million people worldwide, including 1.8 million children and adolescents.

"Understanding the role of microbiome development in diabetes progression could lead to early prediction and prevention strategies, giving us more options to delay or even prevent the clinical manifestation of this disease," said co-corresponding author Daniel Wang, associate scientist with the Channing Division of Network Medicine in the Mass General Brigham Department of Medicine.

Study Tracked Children From Early Life

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The longitudinal observational TEDDY Study followed 887 children at high genetic risk of type 1 diabetes and analyzed more than 12,000 stool samples collected during their first six years.

Participants came from Finland, Germany, Sweden and the United States.

Because the immune system can attack insulin-producing cells years before symptoms appear, researchers counted both the first detection of this immune attack and a clinical diagnosis as disease-related outcomes.

They identified three microbiome development patterns: early-matured, late-matured and early-plateaued.

Children with early-matured microbiomes developed greater bacterial diversity during their first year. Those with late-matured microbiomes started more slowly but eventually caught up.

The early-plateaued group showed slow development that failed to catch up, with low bacterial diversity persisting through the first three years.

Early Plateau Linked To Higher Risk

Children with an early-plateaued microbiome had about three times the risk of developing type 1 diabetes or its preceding immune attack.

The association was also seen when the researchers analyzed the immune stage and clinical diagnosis separately.

The finding emerged from repeated stool sampling over time, suggesting a single microbiome snapshot could have missed the association.

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Microbiome Reflected Dietary Changes

The bacterial differences also reflected how the children's microbiomes adapted as their diets changed.

In the early-matured group, bacteria shifted sooner from milk-adapted species such as Bifidobacterium toward bacteria that break down dietary fiber.

In the early-plateaued group, the microbiome remained more focused on digesting milk sugars even after solid foods were introduced and relied on a narrower range of bacterial species.

Genetics Also Played a Role

Lead author Danyue Dong, a postdoctoral research fellow in the Channing Division of Network Medicine at Mass General Brigham shared that "genetic background" can also influence the risk. Dong noted that combining microbiome and genetic information gives a more accurate picture.

"By analyzing interactions between the microbiome and host genetics, we found genetic variants, particularly those involved in antimicrobial and antiviral immune responses, that shaped how strongly the late-matured pattern was related to disease risk. The early-plateaued pattern, by contrast, carried higher risk regardless of genetic background," the expert said.

What It Means for Prevention

The study was observational, so it cannot establish that microbiome changes cause type 1 diabetes. Clinical trials are needed to determine whether modifying the microbiome can reduce disease risk.

The findings also came from children already at high genetic risk, meaning they may not apply to the general population.

Researchers say future pediatric care could potentially include microbiome testing during the first years of life. However, approaches such as dietary supplements would need to prove effective in clinical trials before being used for prevention.