C-section's Contribute to Later Health Problems
The Invisible Scar's Left by C-sections
I thought this was an interesting article that pointed out some of the risks of C-section that are just being discovered. The next post is a link to the same article so you can go directly to it.
How sad that once again an obstetric procedure has become commonplace without proof that it is safe. (In fact there is ample evidence that C-sections are less safe and death is more likely for the mother.) Just as x-rays during pregnancy were once thought to be 'safe' and were not stopped until LATER proven to be cancer causing, so, c-sections are used in abundance while years later we are seeing the negative results.
Certainly, all mothers must be careful to avoid any kind of obstetric intervention from pharmaceuticals to excessive ultrasound to induction procedures. Just because something has yet to been proven unsafe does not mean it is safe. The problems associated with exposing our babies to these interventions are often not visible until later on in life, especially if they are more subtle or can yet be proven and examined by science.
The C-section rate in this country is around 30% and rising. We must learn to trust in birth and our bodies again. Just knowing that we are capable of birth and believing that it is natural and safe changes the way we look at it and changes the way we will experience it. If you know that birth is beautiful and safe, a care provider that suggests otherwise will be someone you avoid. The idea of a scheduled C-section based on flimsy medical reasoning will seem abhorrent to you when you know that you can birth your baby.
Money talks. If you are not comfortable with your care provider, or if you know they do not respect you and your choices, tell them by choosing somebody else. We can create change but we must ask for it. It will not happen if we keep giving our money and our time to those who who feel a vaginal by-pass is superior and safer.
That May Increase Odds For Developing Diseases in Later Life
ScienceDaily (June 29, 2009) — Swedish researchers have discovered that babies born by Caesarean section experience changes to the DNA pool in their white blood cells, which could be connected to altered stress levels during this method of delivery, according to the July issue of Acta Paediatrica.
It is thought that these genetic changes, which differ from normal vaginal deliveries, could explain why people delivered by C-section are more susceptible to immunological diseases such as diabetes and asthma in later life, when those genetic changes combine with environmental triggers.
Blood was sampled from the umbilical cords of 37 newborn infants just after delivery and then three to five days after the birth. It was analysed to see the degree of DNA-methylation in the white blood cells - a vital part of the immune system.
This showed that the 16 babies born by C-section exhibited higher DNA-methylation rates immediately after delivery than the 21 born by vaginal delivery. Three to five days after birth, DNA-methylation levels had dropped in infants delivered by C-section so that there were no longer significant differences between the two groups.
"Delivery by C-section has been associated with increased allergy, diabetes and leukaemia risks" says Professor Mikael Norman, who specialises in paediatrics at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden. "Although the underlying cause is unknown, our theory is that altered birth conditions could cause a genetic imprint in the immune cells that could play a role later in life.
"That is why we were keen to look at DNA-methylation, which is an important biological mechanism in which the DNA is chemically modified to activate or shut down genes in response to changes in the external environment. As the diseases that tend to be more common in people delivered by C-section are connected with the immune system, we decided to focus our research on early DNA changes to the white blood cells."
The authors point out that the reason why DNA-methylation is higher after C-section deliveries is still unclear and further research is needed.
"Animal studies have shown that negative stress around birth affects methylation of the genes and therefore it is reasonable to believe that the differences in DNA-methylation that we found in human infants are linked to differences in birth stress.
"We know that the stress of being born is fundamentally different after planned C-section compared to normal vaginal delivery. When babies are delivered by C-section, they are unprepared for the birth and can become more stressed after delivery than before. This is different to a normal vaginal delivery, where the stress gradually builds up before the actual birth, helping the baby to start breathing and quickly adapt to the new environment outside the womb."
The authors point out that the surgical procedure itself may play a role in DNA-methylation and that factors other than the delivery method need to be explored in more detail.
"In our study, neonatal DNA-methylation did not correlate to the age of the mother, length of labour, birth weight and neonatal CPR levels - proteins that provide a key marker for inflammation" says Professor Norman. "However, although there was no relation between DNA-methylation and these factors, larger studies are needed to clarify these issues."
Professor Norman states that the Karolinska study clearly shows that gene-environment interaction through DNA-methylation is more dynamic around birth than previously known.
"The full significance of higher DNA-methylation levels after C-section is not yet understood, but it may have important clinical implications" he says.
"C-section delivery is rapidly increasing worldwide and is currently the most common surgical procedure among women of child-bearing age. Until recently, the long-term consequences of this mode of delivery had not been studied. However, reports that link C-section deliveries with increased risk for different diseases in later life are now emerging. Our results provide the first pieces of evidence that early `epigenetic' programming of the immune system may have a role to play."
The authors feel that their discovery could make a significant contribution to the ongoing debate about the health issues around C-section deliveries.
"Although we do not know yet how specific gene expression is affected after C-section deliveries, or to what extent these genetic differences related to the mode of delivery are long-lasting, we believe that our findings open up a new area of important clinical research" concludes lead author Titus Schlinzig, a research fellow at the Karolinska Institutet.
I thought this was an interesting article that pointed out some of the risks of C-section that are just being discovered. The next post is a link to the same article so you can go directly to it.
How sad that once again an obstetric procedure has become commonplace without proof that it is safe. (In fact there is ample evidence that C-sections are less safe and death is more likely for the mother.) Just as x-rays during pregnancy were once thought to be 'safe' and were not stopped until LATER proven to be cancer causing, so, c-sections are used in abundance while years later we are seeing the negative results.
Certainly, all mothers must be careful to avoid any kind of obstetric intervention from pharmaceuticals to excessive ultrasound to induction procedures. Just because something has yet to been proven unsafe does not mean it is safe. The problems associated with exposing our babies to these interventions are often not visible until later on in life, especially if they are more subtle or can yet be proven and examined by science.
The C-section rate in this country is around 30% and rising. We must learn to trust in birth and our bodies again. Just knowing that we are capable of birth and believing that it is natural and safe changes the way we look at it and changes the way we will experience it. If you know that birth is beautiful and safe, a care provider that suggests otherwise will be someone you avoid. The idea of a scheduled C-section based on flimsy medical reasoning will seem abhorrent to you when you know that you can birth your baby.
Money talks. If you are not comfortable with your care provider, or if you know they do not respect you and your choices, tell them by choosing somebody else. We can create change but we must ask for it. It will not happen if we keep giving our money and our time to those who who feel a vaginal by-pass is superior and safer.
That May Increase Odds For Developing Diseases in Later Life
ScienceDaily (June 29, 2009) — Swedish researchers have discovered that babies born by Caesarean section experience changes to the DNA pool in their white blood cells, which could be connected to altered stress levels during this method of delivery, according to the July issue of Acta Paediatrica.
It is thought that these genetic changes, which differ from normal vaginal deliveries, could explain why people delivered by C-section are more susceptible to immunological diseases such as diabetes and asthma in later life, when those genetic changes combine with environmental triggers.
Blood was sampled from the umbilical cords of 37 newborn infants just after delivery and then three to five days after the birth. It was analysed to see the degree of DNA-methylation in the white blood cells - a vital part of the immune system.
This showed that the 16 babies born by C-section exhibited higher DNA-methylation rates immediately after delivery than the 21 born by vaginal delivery. Three to five days after birth, DNA-methylation levels had dropped in infants delivered by C-section so that there were no longer significant differences between the two groups.
"Delivery by C-section has been associated with increased allergy, diabetes and leukaemia risks" says Professor Mikael Norman, who specialises in paediatrics at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden. "Although the underlying cause is unknown, our theory is that altered birth conditions could cause a genetic imprint in the immune cells that could play a role later in life.
"That is why we were keen to look at DNA-methylation, which is an important biological mechanism in which the DNA is chemically modified to activate or shut down genes in response to changes in the external environment. As the diseases that tend to be more common in people delivered by C-section are connected with the immune system, we decided to focus our research on early DNA changes to the white blood cells."
The authors point out that the reason why DNA-methylation is higher after C-section deliveries is still unclear and further research is needed.
"Animal studies have shown that negative stress around birth affects methylation of the genes and therefore it is reasonable to believe that the differences in DNA-methylation that we found in human infants are linked to differences in birth stress.
"We know that the stress of being born is fundamentally different after planned C-section compared to normal vaginal delivery. When babies are delivered by C-section, they are unprepared for the birth and can become more stressed after delivery than before. This is different to a normal vaginal delivery, where the stress gradually builds up before the actual birth, helping the baby to start breathing and quickly adapt to the new environment outside the womb."
The authors point out that the surgical procedure itself may play a role in DNA-methylation and that factors other than the delivery method need to be explored in more detail.
"In our study, neonatal DNA-methylation did not correlate to the age of the mother, length of labour, birth weight and neonatal CPR levels - proteins that provide a key marker for inflammation" says Professor Norman. "However, although there was no relation between DNA-methylation and these factors, larger studies are needed to clarify these issues."
Professor Norman states that the Karolinska study clearly shows that gene-environment interaction through DNA-methylation is more dynamic around birth than previously known.
"The full significance of higher DNA-methylation levels after C-section is not yet understood, but it may have important clinical implications" he says.
"C-section delivery is rapidly increasing worldwide and is currently the most common surgical procedure among women of child-bearing age. Until recently, the long-term consequences of this mode of delivery had not been studied. However, reports that link C-section deliveries with increased risk for different diseases in later life are now emerging. Our results provide the first pieces of evidence that early `epigenetic' programming of the immune system may have a role to play."
The authors feel that their discovery could make a significant contribution to the ongoing debate about the health issues around C-section deliveries.
"Although we do not know yet how specific gene expression is affected after C-section deliveries, or to what extent these genetic differences related to the mode of delivery are long-lasting, we believe that our findings open up a new area of important clinical research" concludes lead author Titus Schlinzig, a research fellow at the Karolinska Institutet.
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