Link between C-section and Type 1 Diabetes
Type 1 diabetes affects between 5 and 15% of all diabetes sufferers and is much less common than the Type 2 strain commonly linked with obesity.
This form of the disease causes the pancreas to stop producing insulin altogether; meaning that the glucose in the blood stream can't be converted into energy thus the diabetic must provide their body with insulin through a series of daily injections.
Diabetes UK
Five year old Lauren Jimenez was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes two years ago and is learning to manage her condition. Her mum Jane, a community nurse, was quick to spot the tell tale signs on a family holiday: ''she'd been drinking loads and loads of water on holiday and I just put it down to the fact that we were somewhere hot but it continued when we got home...I took her to the chemist and got a test kit to monitor her blood sugar levels and they were very high."
It has been suggested that the most likely cause of Diabetes Type 1 would be an abnormal reaction by the body due to a viral infection or other which would be severe enough to damage the cells in the pancreas. However, new research has revealed that the condition could also develop as a result of birth by caesarean section. The research revealed that children born by caesarean section are 20% more likely to go on and develop Diabetes Type 1. Sara Spiers, from Diabetes UK, suggests that this is because C section babies ''are exposed to hospital bacteria before they are exposed to maternal bacteria when they are born.'' Diabetes UK, taking this research into account, advises mothers to be very aware of the heightened risk involved with a caesarean birth. However, they recognise that a lot of mothers have no choice and as such their advice is always going to be problematic.
Jane can identify personally with such a situation- where there is little option but to have a C-section. Recalling the difficulties of the decision she was forced to make she explains that ''if you are in a situation where someone is telling you if you don't have a caesarean there's a potential that your child is going to have brain damage as opposed to your child having diabetes I'd have the caesarean every time.''
More research is certainly needed into the development of Diabetes Type 1 in C-section babies; meanwhile children like Lauren must learn to get to grips with their condition, as Jane explains: ''She has two injections every day, one before breakfast and one before dinner and then she has her blood sugars checked four times a day to see what her readings are.'' In the future Lauren will have to get used to injecting herself, monitoring her blood sugar levels and her diet, but for now mum Jane must contend with the roles of both nurse and dietician: ''I try and let her have what she wants but within moderation. I don't think it's fair to say that she can't have any chocolates or any cake.''
