C-Section Babies more Likely to have Allergies by Age 2

Planning to give birth via cesarean section?

Chances are high that you will have a baby with allergies. Shedding more light into the importance of choosing the right procedure to have a healthy baby, a new study finds that babies born via cesarean section are at higher risks of developing allergies compared to those born vaginally.

To analyze the link, a team of researchers from Henry Ford Hospital looked at more than 1,200 newborns, born between 2003 and 2007. Lead author Christine Cole Johnson and colleagues examined the children at different stages of growth (one month, six months, one year and two years).

Researchers recorded information about the children's umbilical cord, stool and blood samples from parents. Apart from that, they also noted down other factors, including the breast-feeding period of the children, household dust and family history of allergy or asthma.

At the end of the study, researchers found babies of mothers who chose C-section at five times higher risks of developing allergies through allergens from dogs, cats and dust mites. They found that the C-section babies have microorganisms in the gastrointestinal tract, increasing their risk of the development of antibody Immunoglobulin E (IgE).

"This further advances the hygiene hypothesis that early childhood exposure to microorganisms affects the immune system's development and onset of allergies," Dr. Johnson said in a news release. "We believe a baby's exposure to bacteria in the birth canal is a major influencer on their immune system."

The study was presented at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology meeting in San Antonio.

The findings of the study come at a time when one in every four women in the United States gives birth to babies through C-section. Though C-sections are more common in complicated pregnancies, the number of women who adopt it for convenience, and for fear of the natural birth process are also not less. However, according to health experts, recovery takes longer for C-section compared with vaginal birth.

Efforts have been going on to find out the hidden risks of giving birth via C-section. A study conducted by researchers from Boston Children's Hospital in Massachusetts found a majority of children born via C-section gaining unnecessary weight by the age of 3. C-section could be affecting bacteria in the gut, causing major changes in the food digestion procedure, according to findings published in the BMJ journal Archives of Disease in Childhood.

Another study published in the August issue of PLOS ONE found natural birth helping to improve the baby's intelligence levels compared to cesarean birth. Scientists from the Yale University School of Medicine found vaginal birth activating a protein in the brains of newborns, Mitochondrial uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2) that helps brain development in adulthood. However, this protein was found weak among babies born through cesarean.