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Published on: June 24, 2020

Cesarean section and offspring's risk of inflammatory bowel disease: a national cohort study

Peter Bager1, Jacob Simonsen, Nete Munk Nielsen

  • 1Department of Epidemiology Research, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark. pbg@ssi.dk.

Inflammatory Bowel Diseases
|July 9, 2011
PubMed

Insights

Cesarean section delivery is linked to a moderately increased risk of childhood inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). However, the overall impact on IBD burden remains small, even if the association is causal.

Area of Science:

  • Gastroenterology
  • Pediatrics
  • Epidemiology

Background:

  • Intestinal bacteria play a role in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) like ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease.
  • Cesarean section delivery may disrupt infant gut colonization, potentially influencing IBD risk.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between mode of delivery and the incidence of IBD in children and young adults.

Main Methods:

  • A large-scale Danish national cohort study of over 2.1 million individuals born between 1973 and 2008.
  • Confounder-adjusted incidence rate ratios were calculated using Poisson regression, analyzing data from national birth and patient registries.

Main Results:

  • Cesarean section was associated with a significantly increased risk of IBD diagnosis in children aged 0-14 years (IRR 1.29).
  • This association persisted regardless of family history of IBD.
  • An estimated 3.2% of childhood IBD cases before age 15 could be attributed to cesarean delivery, assuming causality.

Conclusions:

  • Birth by cesarean section is linked to a moderately elevated risk of childhood-onset IBD.
  • The precise mechanisms underlying this association require further investigation.
  • The overall contribution of cesarean delivery to the childhood IBD burden is likely small, even if causal.
Abstract

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