Autism Tied to Older Moms, Breech Birth(al Disabilities Monitoring Network. The ...),Health

Bilder's group then compared those children's birth records with the records of 13,200 boys and girls who did not have ASD.

The researchers found that ASD occurred more often among children of mothers 35 and older, mothers who were having their first child and children born in a breech delivery.

Bilder does not think that any of these factors are causes of ASD. "The implication is that there is a prenatal factor involved, which lends itself to breech presentations, that is also lending itself later to the development of autism, such as an impairment in neuromuscular development," she said. The "prenatal factor" might involve a genetic or environmental component, the researchers said.

Dr. Eugene R. Hershorin, an associate professor of clinical pediatrics and medical director of the Behavioral Pediatrics Clinic at the University of Miami, said the findings raise some questions.

"The problem is, you don't know what to make of these findings -- what's the cause-and-effect?" Hershorin said. "Is it if you are going to be autistic, you are going to have a breech presentation? Or is it that breech presentation has some influence on whether or not you are going to be autistic?"

Hershorin noted that the risk of abnormalities in children of older mothers is well known and perhaps a more important consideration for parents than a breech presentation.

More information

For more about ASD, visit the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health.

SOURCES: Deborah Bilder, M.D., assistant professor, psychiatry, University of Utah Medical School, Salt Lake City; Eugene R. Hershorin, M.D., associate professor, clinical pedi
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