Abstract:Objective: The researches show that newborns carry a large number of bacteria from the moment they were born. And delivery mode is an important factor influencing the establishment of the gut microbiota in infancy. However, most studies just analyzed the effect of different delivery mode on the structure of gut microbiota in newborns, the studies on quantification of neonatal gut microbiota are rare, and there is no report on the correlation between maternal childbearing age and neonatal gut microbiota. Methods: the neonatal meconium samples were studies from 14 infants, the total number of bacteria and core microbiota such as Enterobacteriaceae, Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, Bacteroides, Clostridium, Prevotella, Streptococcus, Lactococcus, Enterococcus and Escherichia coli in meconium were quantified using the droplet digital PCR. Results: There was a significant difference in the total number of bacteria present in the gut microbiota of infants with different delivery modes (P<0.05). The amounts of Enterobacteriaceae and Lactobacillus in the infants who were given birth naturally were significantly higher than those underwent caesarean section (P<0.05), indicating that delivery mode affects the transmission of microbes from mother to infant. In addition, the amounts of Streptococcus in the meconium of infant who given birth from the elder mother was significantly higher than those from the young mother (P<0.05). Conclusion: The maternal childbearing age and delivery mode affect the transmission of microbes from mother to infant. Droplet digital PCR technology has the advantage of high sensitivity, which can be used for quantitative detection of intestinal microbiota in newborn infants.