A Randomized Placebo Controlled Pilot Study of Probiotic Supplementation in At-risk Pregnant Black Women

Maternal iron deficiency (ID) and adverse maternal-infant health outcomes disproportionately
affect Black women. Chronic exposure to structural violence can dysregulate a Black woman's
stress response promoting systemic inflammation. Stress-induced inflammation can negatively
affect iron metabolism and promote ID that compromises the health of pregnant women and their
infants - a phenomenon that may explain maternal-infant health disparities in Black women.
Thus, interventions that can mitigate the physiologic effects of chronic stress have the
potential to improve maternal-infant iron status that translates to positive maternal-infant
health outcomes. There is evidence that the probiotic LP299v can reduce the adverse
physiologic effects of stress and normalize iron metabolism although, this has not been
tested in the context of pregnancy. The investigators will conduct a double blinded
placebo-controlled randomized pilot study to determine the feasibility and tolerability of
daily oral LP299v supplementation (15 weeks gestation - delivery) in 20 pregnant Black women
from marginalized neighborhoods of Chicago and explore the effect of daily oral LP299v vs.
placebo on maternal stress response and iron status, infant iron status at delivery, and
molecular mechanisms (maternal microbiome) that may mediate the effect of LP299v on maternal
stress- and iron-related outcomes.