C-sections have previously been associated with an increased risk of asthma for children, and an increased risk of bleeding and infection for mothers. The prevention of childhood obesity may be yet another reason to avoid unnecessary C-sections. The increasing evidences suggest children born by C-section have almost double the odds of being obese at age 3, compared with those born through the birth canal, an association, and not a cause-effect link.
For now, researchers suggest that mothers who choose to have their babies delivered by C-section without a medical reason should be informed of this link. Moreover, when the researchers limited their analysis to include only women who were not overweight before pregnancy, the strength of the link increased. Previous studies have also shown babies born by C-section have a higher proportion of bacteria called Firmicutes , and a lower…
