NEWS AND VIEWS 13 May 2026 Pregnancy poses many challenges, including protecting against infection and increased nutritional demands. Pregnancy-associated gut changes offer some help. By Jiahui Sun Jiahui Sun is at the Center for Inflammation and Tolerance, and Division of Infectious Diseases at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio 45229, USA. Sing Sing Way Sing Sing Way is at the Center for Inflammation and Tolerance, and Division of Infectious Diseases at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio 45229, USA. During pregnancy, nearly all organs adapt to promote the growth of the developing fetus. This includes elongation of the gut and expansion of the finger-like protrusions that line the small intestine, which enables increased nutrient absorption and helps pregnant individuals to obtain the calories they need 1 , 2 . Writing in Nature , Huang et al . 3 describe an interesting twist to these pregnancy-induced intestinal changes.…