Scientists have found that babies who are born via C-section are at more than double the risk of childhood asthma and allergies as compared to those who are born via vaginal birth. A new study has analyzed 700 children in the US to validate the findings. Experts have found a strange link between babies born through C-sections and developing asthma and allergies at the age of six. A Caesarean section is a procedure, which is performed to deliver the baby through incisions in the abdomen and uterus. Experts have said that C- section refrains babies from getting some valuable microorganisms from their mother’s birth canal. It as well deters the development of the immune systems in babies. In some cases, it can increase the risk of respiratory conditions by two-fold in babies, who are born via C-section, said the experts. This surgical procedure is preferred by nearly one in four pregnant women in the UK. It restricts the child’s ability to receive probiotic microscopic organisms during birth.
This study carries some implications for identifying the role of C-section in twisting the baby’s microbiota. Microbiota can be defined as Microbiome as well; it consists of collective genomes of microorganisms in a specific atmosphere. The study has found that the microbiome forms in those babies as well who are born through C-section but it might take longer than those children who are born via natural birth. The author of the study, Dr. Martin Blaster has said that each generation of mothers passes on this microbiome to the next generation as the baby is covered with these beneficial germs during natural birth. He has said that babies who are born via C-section take a little longer to develop a normal microbiome. At that time when their immune system is in the developing stage, they are at a higher risk of being diagnosed with certain ailments such as asthma later in life, said the expert.
Scientists have compared the impact of vaginal birth and C-section in 700 children through the first year of their lives. They have examined children’s fecal samples during different phases such as one week, one month, and one year. They have analyzed the effect of c-section delivery on the variety and maturity of gut microbial composition in the first year of children’s life. They have tried to observe whether the gut microbial composition is linked to a higher risk of having asthma within the first 6 years of their lives. At the end of the study, experts have found that the risk of asthma and other allergies has increased by more than two-fold at the age of six in children who are born via C-section. They as well have observed certain changes in gut microbial composition. Experts have said that by the age of one, children who are born via C-section have been at a lower risk of asthma if their gut microbial has recovered and has started to grow normally. Experts have said that the findings of the study do not discourage women to opt for a life-saving procedure in the case of an emergency.
