Induced labor leads to autism in children. Among male children, both induced and augmented labor was associated with a 35 percent higher risk of autism.
A study of North Carolina birth records indicates that pregnant women who undergo induced or augmented labors may have an increased risk of a child with autism.
Induced labor is the artificial stimulation of childbirth, in which doctor’s prompt uterine contractions to begin before the onset of spontaneous labor. Labor augmentation involves increasing the strength, duration or frequency of uterine contractions after the start of spontaneous labor.
Using this study and Educational Research databases, researchers from Duke University Medical Center analyzed records from 625,042 live births. 5,500 children were diagnosed as being autistic.
Compared to the mothers whose births were neither induced nor augmented, mothers who had induced or augmented labor or a combination of the two had increased odds of having a child with autism. Among male children, both induced and augmented labor was associated with a 35 percent higher risk of autism. However, only labor augmentation was associated with an increased risk of autism in female babies, while induced labor showed no correlation in females.
The results of this study, published in JAMA Pediatrics, are highly challenging because of the large size of the study. But the researchers stated in their conclusions, further research need to be done in this area.
“While these results are interesting, further investigation is needed to differentiate among potential explanations of the association including underlying pregnancy conditions requiring the eventual need to induce, the events of labor and delivery associated with induction/augmentation,” the study concluded.