The way that mothers-to-be choose to have their babies born can be up to them in many scenarios. Many prefer to give birth the good old-fashioned way by passing the baby through the vaginal canal, while many others choose to have a Caesarean Section (also referred to as a C-Section), in which the baby is delivered via incisions made in the in abdomen by nurses.
Caesarean Sections are becoming a common practice when the birth could put either the baby or the mother at risk of health problems or even death. But the Caesarean Section isn't only used in these purposes - many mothers-to-be may opt to have to Caesarean Section to keep certain parts of their bodies in pristine shape, which explains why a good number of celebrities go this route instead.
But one possible side effect of Caesarean Sections is getting a lot of attention as of late. A recent study published by the British Medical Journal suggests that babies born by Caesarean Section are more likely than naturally-born babies to develop chronic diseases later in life, such as Asthma, Diabetes, and Obesity, just to name a few.
"It is clear that cesarean-born children have worse health, but further research is needed to establish whether it is the cesarean that causes disease, or whether other factors are at play," Jan Blustein, a co-author of the report, says. "Getting definitive answers will take many years of further research. In the interim, we must make decisions based on the evidence that we have. To me, that evidence says that it is reasonable to believe that cesarean has the potential for long-term adverse health consequences for children."
This is the not the first report suggesting the negative side effects becoming of Caesarean Sections. In the last several years, there have been many cases of Caesarean Sections causing problems for the mother in healing properly from the major surgical procedure and affecting the mother's health in the long run, as well as the health of the baby.
Although there have been links to suggest that Caesarean Sections could lead to more chronic health risks, there is still hardly any solid evidence. This is something that researchers will have to study over a long-term experiment related to patients having Caesarean Sections in order to gain the knowledge they need to prove whether or not Caesarean Sections are actually a solid trigger for such diseases.
Overall, it comes down to seeing some hard numbers. If it can be proven that Caesarean Sections could be causing chronic health problems for the newborns as they grow, then the practice could be outlawed except for extreme emergencies where there is no other way to preserve life.
Source: British Medical Journal
Health & Medicine
JUN 12, 2015