Many factors have been identified that alter the process of human microbiota development in early life. The prenatal, antenatal and postnatal period have been found to be the most developmentally sensitive times. The importance is that microbiota imbalance during these periods could lead to immune dysregulation with the implication to later life health. On the other hand, these developmentally sensitive periods may also offer opportunities to modify microbiota development to enhance healthier and more robust microbiota communities, and therefore potentially prevent future disease. Standard hospital intervention during labour and delivery such as antibiotics administration to the mother and baby, separation of mother and baby, and early infant bathing could reduce the chance of early microbiota transmission to the newborn infant. The hospital environment provides both an antiseptic environment for labour and delivery, as well as possible exposure to antibiotic resistant bacteria. To investigate the neonatal microbiota development in the absence of standard hospital intervention, a group of researchers conducted a prospective cohort study on 35 vaginally-delivered infants, and their 34 mothers to compare the gut microbiota from vaginally delivered babies born at home (14 babies) with babies born at hospital (21 babies). Study investigators found that the maternal gut microbiota is significantly different between those delivered at home and the hospital without antibiotic exposure. Additionally, hospitalization was associated with alterations in the neonatal microbiota structure during the first month of life: