Did you deliver your baby by c-section? If so, your little one may have a higher risk of developing asthma than a child who was delivered vaginally. This is according to a study published this summer in the July 2008 issue of The Journal of Pediatrics.
The study took a look babies born in Norway between the years of 1967 and 1998 and then followed up with those same children through the age of 18 or the year 2002, which ever came first. The researchers found that those children who were born through a c-section had a 52 percent increased risk for developing asthma. The study was also reported by the newsletter, Pediatrics for Parents.
There is also a difference in risk between those babies born through an emergency c-section (59 percent increase) and those born through a planned c-section (42 percent increase).
The study produced no clear reason behind the increased risk to c-section babies, but the researchers did have two possible theories. It is possible that since these babies do not go through the birth canal, they aren’t exposed to protective bacteria that may be necessary for lung health later in life. The other possible explanation is that these babies don’t expel all of the amniotic fluid from their lungs through the chest compression that takes place in a vaginal delivery. Not being rid of all of that fluid may adversly affect the health of their lungs later. We know that it does affect breathing shortly after birth.
I wonder if other factors for this study were ruled out, such as breast feeding or being in a smoking environment. What do you think? Would this news affect your decision to have an elective c-section?
Click here for more articles by Mary Ann Romans.
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