My Noah was not a c-section, but he had birth trauma, the cord was wrapped around his neck, and the doctor showed up late(it was early Thanksgiving Morning). The nurses were scared to deliver him, so I had to wait. When he was born, he was purple, and had to be suctioned back to life; for the next 24 hours he was in the nursery receiving oxygen in a plastic cup-loke device placed over his whole head, The birth doctor told me he would be fine because he only had one organ failure, but his pediatician told me I wouldn't know if he was ok or not til he was older. I tried to sue the hospital a few years ago, because of what happened, but I was told that there wasn't enough evidence to link autism to birth trauma.

My son was c section and he is 8 with severe autism, my daughter was not but she wasn't breathing when she was born, she has PDD-NOS, and my step son wasn't born c section but he wasn't responding well, so the doctors gave him a shot of something, he has PDD-NOS.

My son Christopher (6 and autistic) was a forcept delivery. He was also wrapped in the cord. This is the first I've heard about trama at birth being a factor. Very Interesting!!!!

I had cholestasis of pregnancy(my liver was in shock and not fully functioning), I was on medication. My son was breech and turned by external version at 37 weeks, my labour was induced and my son had the cord around his neck and was blue. He also was given oxygen. Hmmmm, food for thought?

This is very interesting...my daughter is 15, diagnosed at age 3 with autism. She was born by c-section after 32 hours of labor and the cord was around her neck. After she was diagnosed I looked back at the birth records searching for an answer and I dismissed it because her apgar scores were high at 9 and 9. Now I too have to wonder about birth trauma again. Thanks Wendy for bringing this up.

I had a c-section with my son at 37 weeks. No problems, just too big to pass.
Aren't c-sections were supposed to be less trauma to the baby?

MY DAUGHTER WAS BORN THROUGH C-SECTION AT 39 WEEKS. I WAS ON PATOSIN FOR 12 OR MORE OF THE 24 HRS I WAS IN LABOR. THEY DID A C-SECTION BECAUSE SHE WOULD NOT DROP. THE ONLY PROBLEM I REMEMBER WAS THAT SHE WAS KIND OF STUCK WHEN THEY PULLED HER OUT.

Interesting...because I never thought of c-section birth as trauma. Much easier on the baby who has to go through the traditional delivery.

I have 2 sons, both were c-sections. Both have Autism. One was a traumatic labor (56 hours...thank you very much). The other, however, was a planned c-section (I wasn't doing labor a second time!) and things couldn't have been less traumatic.

I have my suspicions about anyone venturing correlations like this. Recently I saw a survey that dealt with maternal depression and autism. Of course, they didn't distinguish between mothers who were depressed during pregnancy or postpartum, let alone those who got depressed after their child was diagnosed. I think we need to be wary of people looking for random causational links. Personally, I think the suggestion is faulty. I think it discounts that there are many TD children who have been delivered via c-section and proportionally as many children with Autism who work born with a typical delivery.

I didn't have a c-section, but I did have a somewhat traumatic birth experience. My obgyn was late (like someone earlier had happen too) and the nurses didn't want me to push. My son was crowning with his head stuck there in the birth canal for over 2 hours. When I was finally allowed to push, he came right out and his apgars were all good. I've always wondered though if that birth trauma could have caused his autism.

I think that trauma at birth may be possibly linked to Autism. My son would not come out after a long labor and trying forcepts and vacuum extraction. I ended up having a c-section. My son is now almost 6 and he has PDD (Nos). This is an interesting finding, hope more research will be done in this area.

hmmm.... this is just my personal opinion since my birth children are not on the spectrum. first daughter i was in labor for 72 total hours, the last 24 of those 72 were really really bad, back then c-section was a last resort, she got stuck in the birth canal, she had a cone shaped head but she was a c-section. no problems with her. my second daughter was a scheduled c-section with no complications before or after, no problems with her. I have been told that Adam had a violent birth, placenta ruptured 3 weeks before due date. his sisters had no complications at birth but they both have learning disabilities, the younger one has never been diagnosed but i suspect she is somewhere on the spectrum due to her inability to read or write at age 10 and other little things i have noticed, once again just my opinion. i doubt if c-section has anything to do with autism, complications at birth could be a factor but the actual c-section in and of itself i have my doubts.

E was delivered c-section. He had a traumatic birth. I often wonder about this and if it did or did not contribute to E's conditions.

Andy was an uncomplicated NCB. my labor was augmented with Pitocin b/c my water broke before the contrax started and the dr wanted him out w/i 24 hours. my sister's labor was also augmented with pitocin - but her L&D delivery was pretty uncomplicated. my mom was induced with pitocin with my sister who has AS...

I find this topic extremely interesting. However, I don't put much in it as there are so many variables. But, some interesting points are raised.

Like a most mentioned here, my son had a traumatic birth. I was induced w/ pitocin and delivered him vaginally after 30 hours of labor. My water was broken for over 22.5 hours. When he arrived, he was not breathing and had the cord wrapped around his neck 3 times. They immediately took him down to the unit, where he coded. They told us they were going to medivac him to another hospital that specialized in neonatal care. When they went to intibate him, whatever was blocking his passageway, dissapated. He had a heart murmer, and an infection (which I believed was caused by my water being broken for so long). They kept him under an oxygenator for 2 days and in the hospital for a week. It was a tough birth and I believe if we had had a doctor vs. a midwife, then I would have had a c-section. But, then 9.5 lbs babies aren't easy to deliver with the cord wrapped around their necks. =D

I wonder if it's the lack of O2 that has caused some of this. I noticed that some of our sons co-morbid dx's list lack of O2 as a reason. I noticed several of the mother's that answered kids had PDD-NOS and their child's cord was wrapped around their necks. That is interesting to me, as my son has AS. I wonder if that is a common element for those on the spectrum and not those who are truly autistic. It would make an interesting study.

On another note, my sister had a torn placenta and was bedridden at 30 weeks. She delivered her daughter via C-section at 35 weeks. My neice is happy and thriving as is my other neice who was delivered via C-section from my sister 3 years later.

I also wanted to note that my cousin has a son whose cord was wrapped around his neck twice upon birth. He was just dx'd with ADD and shows some signs of AS. She was delivering via a midwife in her home when they discovered merconium (sp?) in her water. She was rushed to the hospital at that point.

I don't know what to think. I have two kids, both born C-section. One has HFA and one neurotypical so far. The HFA child was born 3 1/2 weeks premature. The reason was related to my health during pregnancy not hers. She was born very healthy, but has always been different even as an infant.