C-Section Babies More Likely To Develop Asthma

An interesting article in the April, 2001 issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology reports that children born by C-section are more likely to develop asthma than children born vaginally.

In the study, done in Finland, researchers were able to obtain data from the National Public Health Institute on asthma, allergic disorders and obstetric history for 2000 people born in 1966 who survived to age 31. C-section was done in 5.3% of the population studied and was strongly associated with current doctor-diagnosed asthma. In fact, the C-section patients were three times more likely to develop asthma than normal birth patients. No strong relationships were noted between C-sections and allergies, hay fever or allergic eczema.

It was noted that C-sections performed in Finland in the 1960s were almost always the result of emergency situations.

By way of commentary, there is a common misconception that C-section births are less traumatic to the baby. This is not necessarily the case. C-sections put tremendous forces on the baby’s spine and spinal cord as they are forcibly extracted from the womb. Subluxation injuries to the brain stem and spinal cord in the neck have long been associated with respiratory disorders.