Fig. 3

Prolonged effect of the mode of delivery on the faecal microbiota composition during the first weeks of life of preterm infants. a The prevalence of Staphylococcus, a typical abundant representative of the skin microbiota, is significantly associated with C-section delivery in samples from the first 3 weeks of life. b The combined prevalence of Escherichia coli and members of the Bacteroides genus, typical representatives of the maternal faecal microbiota, is associated significantly with vaginal delivery in samples from the first 3 weeks of life. Blocks represent categories of samples that are from the same week (W1-4) with the same mode of delivery. Prevalence brackets, as shown on the right, represent the total % of reads per sample. For example, more than 75 % of all samples from vaginally delivered infants from week 1 had less than 1 % Staphylococcus. Significant differences (p < 0.05) between samples of the same week but from different delivery methods are indicated with an asterisk (*) above the category with the highest prevalence