A new research shows that a small and diverse community of bacteria can be found in the placentas of healthy pregnant women. The finding disproves the common notion that fetuses grow in sterile environment.

For the study, researchers examined 320 donated placentas through a technology that teased out bacterial DNA to assess the type and abundance of different microbes.

Findings of the study show that the make-up of the microbial colony might play a role in premature birth.

In the past studies, the research team studied the microbiome of the vagina and found that its composition changes after a woman becomes pregnant. They found that the most common vaginal microbes were not the same as the earliest gut bacteria that scientists were finding in newborns.

"It allows us to think about the biology of pregnancy in different ways than we have before, that pregnancy and early life aren't supposed to be these totally sterile events," said lead researcher Dr. Kjersti Aagaard of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, reports the Associated Press.

"We have traditionally believed in medicine that the uterus is a sterile part of the human body," said Dr. Lita Proctor of the National Institutes of Health, who oversaw the microbiome project, in the press release.

This helped scientists realize that microbes present in the placenta play a crucial role in fetus development. This will open up a whole new line of research in pediatric health.

The research has been published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

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