03-07-2025
Shock research reveals how types of birth can affect children's chances of getting CANCER
Babies born by planned caesarean section are more likely to develop childhood cancer, according to researchers.
Those delivered that way were more than a quarter more likely to get the most common form of childhood leukaemia, a study found.
Scientists reviewed data from nearly 2.5million children born in Sweden during two periods, 1982 to 1989 and 1999 to 2015.
In total 15.5 per cent were born by C-section – which were further divided into planned and emergency caesareans.
Some 1,495 of the children would later develop leukaemia. And researchers found the risk of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), which is the most common form of childhood leukaemia, was 21 per cent higher in children born by planned C-section compared to children born naturally.
This increased to 29 per cent in B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (B-ALL), which is the most common ALL subtype, accounting for around 80 per cent of childhood cases.
And the raised risk was more pronounced in boys than girls, as well as among younger children, according to the findings from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm published in the International Journal of Cancer.
Experts suggest that the raised risk could be due to the baby not being exposed to the stress of a natural delivery, as well as bacteria in the birth canal.
It is thought that babies born via planned caesarean have higher chances of developing health conditions such as asthma and food allergies for the same reason. But, because during an emergency C-section labour has begun naturally, the baby may have had some exposure and the risk is less.
Dr Christina-Evmorfia Kampitsi, the study's lead author, said: 'C-sections are an important and often life-saving part of obstetric care.
'We don't want mothers to feel anxious about medically indicated C-sections. But when this result is combined with other study results showing that the risk of later asthma, allergies or type 1 diabetes increases in children born by planned C-section, there is reason to discuss C-sections that are not medically indicated.'
