Wellbeing in Early Childhoods' Ordinary Microbial Encounters

Objective

Supporting the development of a diverse microbiome from birth is vital for lifelong health, public health outcomes, and planetary wellbeing. Yet, microbial diversity is declining rapidly with each generation. A baby’s microbiome develops through practices in birth, feeding and medical interventions alongside close connection with their everyday environment. As research increasingly shows the importance of developing a healthy microbiome during babyhood, little attention has been given to the everyday implications of these findings for families. This creates a major gap in understanding microbial wellbeing during the critical first 1000 days of life. This fellowship addresses that gap through an interdisciplinary, arts-based, and participatory approach that centres the voices and experiences of babies, families, and early childhood professionals. As babies engage with the world through embodied and material contact, they often interact with surfaces differently from adults. To acknowledge babies engagements researchers require different ways of working with babies. A growing body of research recognizes babies as participants (rather than objects of study) and attends closely to the non-verbal cues through which valuable insights can be gained. This project uniquely combines relational, sensory, and embodied methodologies that acknowledge babies’ capacities to engage meaningfully with their environments. The fellowship aims to: 1. Map a selection of microbes that babies encounter in their first year by tracing their material engagements in local everyday environments. 2. Analyse and produce theoretical understanding on how the microbial wellbeing of babies intersects with social, political and material threads on parenting and family life within daily rituals and local spaces. 3. Develop ways in which babies’ microbiomes ordinary can be enhanced through arts-based approaches and microbe rich material encounters through a Microbial Welcome Toolkit.