Obstetric Complications and Asthma in Childhood

Studies have shown that perinatal factors are associated with childhood asthma. The current analyses examined the association between obstetric complications and risk of asthma at the age of 7 years using a prospectively population-based birth cohort in northern Finland. Results indicated that obstetric complications were associated with a higher risk of asthma among children. Those children who were administered special procedures at birth, i.e., cesarean section, vacuum extraction, and other procedures, including use of forceps, manual auxiliary, and extraction breech, had an adjusted odds ratio (OR) for asthma of 1.38 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.00–1.92), 1.32 (95% CI 0.80–2.19), and 2.14 (95% CI 1.06–4.33), respectively, as compared to children who were delivered normally. Children who had a lower Apgar score at the first and the fifth minute after birth also had a higher risk as compared to those who had an Apgar score of 9–10. The results encourage further evaluation of the association between obstetric complications and risk of asthma among children in other populations, and further exploration of possible mechanisms underlying the association.