Type 1 diabetes and c sections - what's the connection?

[babybillandsplodge]

type 1 diabetes on the increase

Please can someone explain the connection between having a c section and your child developing type 1 diabetes as I don't understand it?

Thanks.

They are using the word "slightly" though, then making a big thing about it!

Vaginal birth means babies collect microbes as they travel down the birth canal. Babies born by C-section have different gut flora as they aren't exposed to these bugs. Gut flora are important for development of the immune system, which is linked to your risk of developing Type 1.

But it is only one of a number of possible causes of this predicted increases. Rapid weight gain after birth might be another - which is more common in bottle fed babies. I guess bottle feeding affects gut flora too.

Then there's older mothers - not clear why that might affect risk of Type 1 but it appears to. And exposure to infections early in life - the more the better, essentially, so socialising at nursery or pre-school (or living on a farm or coming from a big family) might be a factor.

Divvy, yer I know - that's the media for you! They mentioned it on BBC News this morning and then didn't explain the point at all . I just didn't get it.

edam, thank you, that's interesting.

I don't think anyone understands it, exactly. There is demonstrably a slightly higher rate of diabetes in babies born by c-section, but the reason why isn't known.

One possibility, off the top of my head, is that some c-sections will be performed where the baby is unusually large, and some of those cases will be down to undiagnosed and uncontrolled gestational diabetes in the mother. IIRC uncontrolled gestational diabetes is linked by some studies to a greater instance of the child's developing diabetes. So those factors in combination, although small, might be enough to account for the slightly higher rate of diabetes in babies born by c-section. But we don't know.