Caesarian findings challenged by medics

Scientists found that natural birth triggered production of the protein UCP2 in the brains of infant mice.

Less of the protein was made in mice delivered by c-section.

UCP2, or mitochondrial uncoupling protein 2, is important for the proper development of brain circuits linked to memory, the researchers pointed out.

Blocking or knocking out the protein led to impaired brain function and behaviour in adult mice.

Other evidence suggested that induction of UCP2 by natural birth may help the transition to breast feeding.

A leading UK expert warned against making the “large leap” of assuming women might harm their babies’ brain development by having caesareans.

The research was carried out by a team of US scientists led by Professor Tamas Horvath, chair of the department of comparative medicine at Yale University.

Their findings were published in the online journal Public Library of Science ONE.

Prof Horvath delivered a stark message to women who had c-section births out of choice rather than for medical reasons.

He said: “These results reveal a potentially critical role of UCP2 in the proper development of brain circuits and related behaviours.

“The increasing prevalence of c-sections driven by convenience rather than medical necessity may have a previously unsuspected lasting effect on brain development and function in humans as well.”

In the UK, women who pay for expensive private treatment to give birth by c-section have been derided as “too posh to push”.

But Professor Marian Knight, an honorary consultant in public health at Oxford University, was critical of the US research and said its findings should be viewed with caution.

“Whilst this is an interesting laboratory study, the potential for human significance is far from established,” she said.

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