Manual breast pump. Image Credit: Pavel Ilyukhin / Shutterstock Mothers across the world use breast pumps to pump put the milk that is fed to their babies. A new study has revealed that these pumps may not be safe and may be contaminated with bacteria that can cause asthma in the babies later in life. The results of this study were published in the latest issue of the journal Cell Host & Microbe. Researchers from University of Manitoba, Canada compared babies who had been fed breast milk via a pump to babies who were directly breastfed. Results showed that babies who were being directly breastfed had a rich diversity of bacteria in their mouths called the microbiome. This microbiome in the gut and mouth can be beneficial for a baby’s health and immunity, the researchers explain. On the other hand babies that were fed via breast pump had harmful bacteria in their mouths that led to an increased risk of their getting asthma later in life. The bacterial genes from breast milks...