Caesarean section babies more prone to asthma, says study

02 Dec 2008 - Posted by the Editorial Team

Babies that are born via Caesarean section are more likely to develop asthma, according to a new study by Dutch scientists.

Published in the journal Thorax, the research was led by Dr Caroline Roduit - who is now based at the Children's Hospital of Zurich in Switzerland and involved the examination of 2,917 children.

A total of 247 were born by Caesarean.

Caesarean section was associated with an 80 per cent increased risk of asthma in comparison to a vaginal birth.

In addition, the association was even stronger in youngsters whose parents had allergies - suggesting the existence of a genetic predisposition to the condition.

A total of nine per cent of the children who had two allergic parents were nearly three times more likely to have developed asthma by the time they were eight in comparison to youngsters whose mothers and fathers were not allergic.

Dr Roduit said: "The mother should be informed of the risk of asthma for her child, especially when the parents have a history of allergy or asthma."

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