Cesarean babies at high risk of asthma
Introduction
Research suggests that babies born by c-section are twice as likely to develop asthma…
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Cesareans boost asthma risk
Babies born by cesarean section have a 50% increased risk of developing asthma compared to babies born naturally, and emergency cesarean sections increase the risk even further, according to a new European study.
Researchers found that compared to children born spontaneously and vaginally, children born by cesarean section had an approximately 50% increased risk of developing asthma, while those born vaginally but with assistance from vacuum or forceps had a 20 % increased risk of asthma. Planned cesarean sections were associated with an approximately 40% increased risk of asthma, while emergency cesareans carried a 60% increased risk.
Babies who are born by cesarean section aren’t exposed to their mothers’ bacteria during birth, and this can be detrimental for development of the immune system. Cesarean babies also tend to have more breathing problems after birth because they’re less exposed to stress hormones and compression of the chest, which help emptying their lungs of amniotic fluid. Researchers suggest that this may negatively affect lung function in the long term. However, the fact that emergency cesarean sections apparently have a stronger effect on the risk of asthma than planned cesareans can’t easily be explained by any of these theories.
The study authors looked at over 1.7 million births reported to the Medical Birth Registry at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health in the period 1967-1998 and compared the proportions of children who received a basic -and/or attendance benefit for asthma from the Social Security office after spontaneous vaginal birth, assisted vaginal birth (forceps or vacuum), and cesarean section (planned c-section and emergency c-section separate from and including 1988), respectively. Four out of every 1000 children received benefits for asthma.
Supernanny Team
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