Vaginal birth is highly recommended by neonatology specialists , but when the mother suffers from a serious health condition, it is probably not the best option.
Specialists from the National Cancer Center in Tokyo, Japan, found that mothers with cancer can transmit the disease to their babies during childbirth , particularly those who have cervical cancer. When analyzing the case of two six-year-olds and 23 months, both with lung cancer, found an “exact genetic match” of the children’s tumors with their mothers’ cervical cancer.
When performing routine tests, the researchers observed a pattern of tumor growth located only in the lungs and along the bronchi of the children, suggesting that the infants may have aspirated cancer cells during vaginal delivery.
“If the mother has cervical cancer, the baby may be exposed to tumor cells in the fluids of the birth canal and could aspirate the tumor cells into the lungs. Therefore, mother-to-child transmission of the tumor may be a risk of vaginal birth among women with cervical tumors , ”wrote the authors of the research published in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) .
Although “the transmission of cancer from mother to offspring is extremely rare and is estimated to occur in approximately one baby in each 500, 000 mothers with cancer ”, it is possible that babies are exposed to the transmission of disease through the placenta, especially in cases where the mother has cancer of the blood, skin, lungs, and cervix. In these cases, “the spread of tumor cells from the mother to multiple organs (such as bones, liver and soft tissues) in the baby ” is observed, which is usually diagnosed during the first two years of life.
But in the case of mothers with cervical cancer, experts believe that probably the mother’s tumor cells are present in the amniotic fluid, secretions, or blood from the cervix, so it can be aspirated by babies during vaginal delivery.
“These cases indicate that mother-to-child transmission of cervical cancer is possible during vaginal delivery; therefore, s e should recommend caesarean section to mothers with cervical cancer ”, they say.
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