Friday 20th June 2008 News Index

A report from Norway suggests that babies born by caesarean section are 50 times more likely to develop asthma than those born naturally.

The report by Dr Mette Christophersen goes on to say that emergency C-section babies are even more likely to develop the condition in later life with a sixty per cent increase in the chance of getting asthma. It also found that babies born using forceps or a vacuum had a 20 percent greater chance of asthma. The report raises many questions about why this might be the case and there appears to be no definite answers.

Dr Mette Christophersen Tollanes, the lead author, said it may be that babies born this way miss being exposed to certain bacteria from their mothers, so their immune systems don't develop in the same way.

Another theory is that babies who go through the birth canal experience more stress hormones and have their chests squeezed, which helps remove amniotic fluid.

Whilst the report claims to establish a link between caesarean section babies and asthma, it did not look into the possibility that emergency C-section babies had other problems that would make a baby more susceptible to getting asthma.

With both C-section births and asthma on the increase, this report is hopefully the start of a valuable line of research into a condition that affects many of us and our children.

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