This study found children delivered by c-section were 80% more likely to have asthma by the age of 8 vs. kids born vaginally.
EIGHTY PERCENT?? I admit that stunned me, even though I knew c-sections carried short and long term risks for moms & babies. Still, that's astonishing. Which makes it kinda stink that my one c-section baby was also my child with chronic lung disease. But he's four (SIX!) now and has no indictors of asthma so we'll keep our fingers crossed.
Oh, and if a parent had asthma then the rates went up and a child born by c-section with an asthmatic parent was 200% more likely to have asthma than a peer.
The authors suggest that this association may be linked to the development of the immune system at birth. That is, a cesarean may prevent the baby from being exposed to certain microbes earlier in life.
I'm reading this while trying to eat lunch and hold a sad, sick J so I've only skimmed it. The magazine I found it in said they recommend that people avoid scheduling elective c-sections. Though I think there are plenty of other reasons to avoid elective surgery, this is a pretty good one as well. 🙂