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Cesarean delivery may lead to increased risk of obesity among offspring
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(very) low birth weight is associated with metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance later in life. It might be, that among C-section babies, there is a higher number of babies with low birth weight.I think women have c-sections for many different reasons that don't all boil down to being obese. My 1st was an emergency c-section preemie. Then I had successful 2 vbacs. For my last baby, I couldn't find a doctor that would do another vbac for me & I was forced to have another c-section. It was ridiculous. I went into pre-term labor (of course), so they had to get me into an operating room to get the baby out before I delivered. All of my children were preemies & my pregnancies were high risk so even if I were comfortable with home birth (which I'm not), it wouldn't have been an option for me. I think it's pretty common for women to be forced into a c-section once they've had one, no matter what their weight or condition. At least here in my area of the US.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/278913452_METABOLIC_SYNDROME_DEVELOPMENT_IN_RELATION_TO_LOW_BIRTH_WEIGHT0 -
Two children:
17 yo: natural delivery, forumal feed, not obese, he is more regular framed; smart
10 yo: C section, breastfeed 33 months, not obese at all; thin, at age 2 weight was lower than it should, had to bulk him up, smart.
Interesting article...I have my own data.
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3 c-sections, 3 sons in their 20's--all fit.0
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The labor process is vital to preparing the body of the infant for stress. I am deducing from the following excerpt (drawing my own conclusion) that this effects metabolism.
"Contractions of labor help to prepare the baby’s lungs for respiration at birth. In her article on the role of stress, pain, and catecholamines (produced by the body in response to stress), Penny Simkin explains that during each contraction of labor there is temporary reduction in the amount of oxygen that is available to the fetus. Contractions reduce the amount of oxygenated blood that is passed through to the placenta. This causes the baby’s heart rate to slow down.
To adapt to this level of stress the baby increases her production of catecholamines which shunts the blood going to her vital organs and preserves her energy stores. This adaptive response allows the baby to receive the same amount of oxygen as before labor contractions. This increased surge of catecholamines accumulated during labor also helps to prepare the baby’s lungs to breath on their own at birth by absorbing the liquid in her lungs. Babies born by a scheduled cesarean have lower levels of catecholamines than babies born vaginally. A scheduled cesarean (without labor) is more likely to make it more difficult for the baby to initially breathe on her own.
Babies born before term have a higher risk of persistent pulmonary hypertension, a potentially life-threatening condition. To facilitate the transition from the uterine environment to the outside world, the blood vessels in the baby’s lungs relax and allow blood to flow through them with the first breaths after birth. This function allows the blood to exchange carbon dioxide for oxygen. When this adaptation fails the blood vessels do not relax and pulmonary high blood pressure (hypertension) prevails. Newborns who experience persistent pulmonary hypertension and low blood oxygen levels can suffer from damage to vital organs and the brain. Persistent pulmonary hypertension is four times higher for babies born by elective cesarean than for babies born vaginally."
Source: http://www.vbac.com/how-does-a-cesarean-affect-the-baby/1 -
debradavmom wrote: »The labor process is vital to preparing the body of the infant for stress. I am deducing from the following excerpt (drawing my own conclusion) that this effects metabolism.
"Contractions of labor help to prepare the baby’s lungs for respiration at birth. In her article on the role of stress, pain, and catecholamines (produced by the body in response to stress), Penny Simkin explains that during each contraction of labor there is temporary reduction in the amount of oxygen that is available to the fetus. Contractions reduce the amount of oxygenated blood that is passed through to the placenta. This causes the baby’s heart rate to slow down.
To adapt to this level of stress the baby increases her production of catecholamines which shunts the blood going to her vital organs and preserves her energy stores. This adaptive response allows the baby to receive the same amount of oxygen as before labor contractions. This increased surge of catecholamines accumulated during labor also helps to prepare the baby’s lungs to breath on their own at birth by absorbing the liquid in her lungs. Babies born by a scheduled cesarean have lower levels of catecholamines than babies born vaginally. A scheduled cesarean (without labor) is more likely to make it more difficult for the baby to initially breathe on her own.
Babies born before term have a higher risk of persistent pulmonary hypertension, a potentially life-threatening condition. To facilitate the transition from the uterine environment to the outside world, the blood vessels in the baby’s lungs relax and allow blood to flow through them with the first breaths after birth. This function allows the blood to exchange carbon dioxide for oxygen. When this adaptation fails the blood vessels do not relax and pulmonary high blood pressure (hypertension) prevails. Newborns who experience persistent pulmonary hypertension and low blood oxygen levels can suffer from damage to vital organs and the brain. Persistent pulmonary hypertension is four times higher for babies born by elective cesarean than for babies born vaginally."
Source: http://www.vbac.com/how-does-a-cesarean-affect-the-baby/
I rather prefer my daughter be born alive than with a broken neck. She was already suffocating from being stuck in the birth canal. A Caesaren saved her life.0 -
As our microbiomes are key to our immune system, and if the mother's system is challenged then in normal/regular births there can be an insufficient transfer of the appropriate microbes etc. Unfortunately children who need to be born by C-section may fair worse. Mothers who are able to nurse, when their children born are near term can overcome the deficit if their own tracts are working effectively. Lactation is there to feed the child and make efficient transfers of enyzmes and other essential elements for a healthy life if the mother has these things herself.
In recent years pt's have been used for different medical reason because microbes can be vital in some conditions. It has been found that the health condition of the donation can hide unforeseen, at that time, issues, (2/3 years ago). The principal case is that of a daughter/mother transfer. The mother usually slim gained to be similar to her daughter after the medically organised transfer. Since then, I hope greater attention has been paid to the donation.
Our scientific community is bringing us better information on which we should act.0 -
Even if it is true it really sucks. New moms go through enough stress and self-doubt and worry and a million other emotions and now we have to stress out if our baby has to be born via cesarean because we are dooming them to a life of obesity?!
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I read something similar a while back. The theory is that unborn babies are basically "sterile" - they have no microbes in their gut. They pick up microbes during vaginal births - presumably they literally swallow them! Babies born by c section don't go through this process and so have fewer or no microbes. Since gut microbes are the building blocks of our immune system,the studies conclude this *could * lead to various problems,obesity being just one. I have no idea how that correlation is made. Don't shoot the messenger!0
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All you people who had c/s need to chill.
No one thinks you should let you baby DIE instead of being a fatty.
No one (with a brain) thinks this study means your c/s baby is definitely going to be fat.
For chrissakes, it's a correlation, done on tens of thousands of births, and your anecdote is meaningless and detracting from the actual science.
Now then.
I find this super interesting. We really have had no clue until very recently about this microbiome stuff (or at least it hasn't been disseminated to the general public until recently). The poop transplant for people with c. Diff, infants getting colonized from Mom's vag, tooth health is linked to the parent you exchanged the most spit with. I can't wait to see what else we learn.
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All you people who had c/s need to chill.
No one thinks you should let you baby DIE instead of being a fatty.
No one (with a brain) thinks this study means your c/s baby is definitely going to be fat.
For chrissakes, it's a correlation, done on tens of thousands of births, and your anecdote is meaningless and detracting from the actual science.
Now then.
I find this super interesting. We really have had no clue until very recently about this microbiome stuff (or at least it hasn't been disseminated to the general public until recently). The poop transplant for people with c. Diff, infants getting colonized from Mom's vag, tooth health is linked to the parent you exchanged the most spit with. I can't wait to see what else we learn.
The study I read did say there are ways you can increase gut microbes and no,no one is saying hey mothers,it's all your fault your kids are fat/sick!
Apparently some beers can increase your gut microbes,to which yay!0 -
comptonelizabeth wrote: »I read something similar a while back. The theory is that unborn babies are basically "sterile" - they have no microbes in their gut. They pick up microbes during vaginal births - presumably they literally swallow them! Babies born by c section don't go through this process and so have fewer or no microbes. Since gut microbes are the building blocks of our immune system,the studies conclude this *could * lead to various problems,obesity being just one. I have no idea how that correlation is made. Don't shoot the messenger!
No, it is not that there are fewer to no microbes. They are colonized by different microbes, such as those on the skin.0 -
LawOfFives wrote: »chunky_pinup wrote: »But like...what? I mean, is there like, skinny juice in the vag canal? How does this even work?
There is a theory that states that the reason a woman tends to involuntarily move her bowels during a vaginal birth is in order to help the newborn to colonize their gut bacteria, and we know that gut bacteria has a significant impact on hunger obesity, etc.
This made me laugh harder than it should.
The reason women tend to involuntarily move their bowels while giving birth is because they're trying to squeeze a watermelon out of an orifice more suited to a banana, using the same muscles that are used to poop with.
More of a design flaw, methinks, than an intentional action designed to prevent future obesity in newborns. 0 -
French_Peasant wrote: »MeganMoroz89 wrote: »LawOfFives wrote: »chunky_pinup wrote: »But like...what? I mean, is there like, skinny juice in the vag canal? How does this even work?
There is a theory that states that the reason a woman tends to involuntarily move her bowels during a vaginal birth is in order to help the newborn to colonize their gut bacteria, and we know that gut bacteria has a significant impact on hunger obesity, etc.
I've never heard that. I've always just assumed that because you're pushing so hard and that there's been so much cramping of the muscles that that's what makes you take a *kitten* when you're giving birth (which is just a great idea, so glad that that might happen to me when I have a kid. I've always wanted to do that in front of strangers).
The best part is when the roaming packs of medical students and your coworker's husband come barging into the room to see the exciting parts, among other indignities. You lose all sense of shame. It's part of what makes you a mother, LOL.
Been there, done that.
At that point in the process, they could have brought in a whole troupe of Boy Scouts, too, because I was beyond caring.
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Alyssa_Is_LosingIt wrote: »NorthCascades wrote: »Alyssa_Is_LosingIt wrote: »Chef_Barbell wrote: »How does the method someone is born affect how they eat after they are born in childhood? Makes no sense to me. FTR- None of my c-section children are overweight by any means.
Yeah, I'm not getting the connection. Sounds about as reliable as this:
No cause and effect relationship has been established yet. It might be that whatever prompted the C-section delivery is also making people more prone to becoming obese. Nobody really knows yet.
From everything we know today, this doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. But it does seem to be true. That's odd. If it turns out this really is true, we'll probably learn something new when we find out how it works.
I think more likely, obese mothers are more likely to have C-sections. The women, in turn, may continue their unhealthy lifestyle and raise children who emulate that lifestyle and become obese themselves.
But that doesn't mean that the C-section birth is what caused the child to be more prone to obesity. It's the lifestyle that that they were born into that is making them more likely to become obese. Obese women just happen to have more C-sections.
*Edit: clarification
Totally agree. If there *is* a valid correlation, logic dictates that this could very well be the cause.0 -
As a microbiologist I support that the establishment of "skinny" microbiota is aided during the birthing process and is key to differences seen in individual weight based on C-section or vaginal births. There are a number of scientific journals that indicate bacterial diversity is associated with "healthier" weight individuals. A microbiologist studying tribal people who eat mostly raw food also has noted a lack of obese members in the society. The fecal bacterial diversity was noted to be higher in these individuals as well. Not only is it diversity but the distribution of each type of bacteria. Currently C-section infants are being inoculated with birth fluids to reconcile some of the differences in the gut microbiota observed by the different birthing methods. It is not just what bacteria you have, but the amounts of that bacteria. Establishment of your gut flora happens at birth via vaginal fluids, food (breast milk and formula have different bacteria), human touch (nurses and doctors carry MRSA at a higher rate than the general population), and the environment (vaginal births can be at home, C-sections must be done at medial facility and usually wind up in a longer hospital stay). There was a comment above about obese moms being likely to have C-sections. I am not sure that is a justified comment as many women I know had C-sections because they were too small and the babies too large (personal observation not scientific). Woman who are healthy also have C-sections because the child did not properly turn. Some women have C-sections by choice.2
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cbendorf13 wrote: »As a microbiologist I support that the establishment of "skinny" microbiota is aided during the birthing process and is key to differences seen in individual weight based on C-section or vaginal births. There are a number of scientific journals that indicate bacterial diversity is associated with "healthier" weight individuals. A microbiologist studying tribal people who eat mostly raw food also has noted a lack of obese members in the society. The fecal bacterial diversity was noted to be higher in these individuals as well. Not only is it diversity but the distribution of each type of bacteria. Currently C-section infants are being inoculated with birth fluids to reconcile some of the differences in the gut microbiota observed by the different birthing methods. It is not just what bacteria you have, but the amounts of that bacteria. Establishment of your gut flora happens at birth via vaginal fluids, food (breast milk and formula have different bacteria), human touch (nurses and doctors carry MRSA at a higher rate than the general population), and the environment (vaginal births can be at home, C-sections must be done at medial facility and usually wind up in a longer hospital stay). There was a comment above about obese moms being likely to have C-sections. I am not sure that is a justified comment as many women I know had C-sections because they were too small and the babies too large (personal observation not scientific). Woman who are healthy also have C-sections because the child did not properly turn. Some women have C-sections by choice.
I don't see where anyone was disputing that. I think the point was that more obese women have C-sections (for whatever reason) than non-obese women do (for whatever reason.) There are many valid medical issues and personal preferences that would lead women of *any* size to end up having c-sections as opposed to vaginal births. But since it appears that more obese women also have them due to reasons directly related to their obesity, it would stand to reason that this statistic would then skew in favour of these children ending up being obese as well, with method of delivery having no measurable impact in and of itself.0 -
comptonelizabeth wrote: »I read something similar a while back. The theory is that unborn babies are basically "sterile" - they have no microbes in their gut. They pick up microbes during vaginal births - presumably they literally swallow them! Babies born by c section don't go through this process and so have fewer or no microbes. Since gut microbes are the building blocks of our immune system,the studies conclude this *could * lead to various problems,obesity being just one. I have no idea how that correlation is made. Don't shoot the messenger!
No, it is not that there are fewer to no microbes. They are colonized by different microbes, such as those on the skin.
Ah,ok, I see!0
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