Group B Streptococcus

Breastfed babies who consume a particular type of sugar in their milk are more likely to be protected from colonization by Group B Streptococcus — a bacteria, which is a major cause of meningitis and other serious ailments in newborns. These sugars — oligosaccharides — are thought to encourage the growth of non-pathogenic bacteria in the baby's GI tract which, in effect, "crowds out" the dangerous ones.