Researchers from Queen's University Belfast examined data from 20 published studies on children with type-1 diabetes who were born by caesarean. The results found that that babies born by caesarean had a 20 percent higher risk of diabetes compared with babies born by natural birth. The normal risk of a baby developing type 1 diabetes is three in 1,000.
Contact with hospital bacteria rather than maternal bacteria in delivery may be to blame for the diabetes risk. The risk with caesarean babies was calculated after adjusting for other risk factors such as birth weight and whether the baby was breast-fed or not, says a report in PubMed journal.
The findings coincide with a rise in the popularity of caesareans, as mothers choose to delay motherhood. In the UK, an average of 24 percent of deliveries is by caesarean section, the BBC reported.
Type 1 diabetes is a chronic (lifelong) disease that occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin to properly control blood sugar levels. In childhood, it has become more prevalent across Europe recently. Though it can occur at any age, many patients are diagnosed after age 20.
