Over the last two decades, a rise has come in the both cesarean sections and autism spectrum disorder. Also, many studies have linked the rise in the autism cases with the birth by c-section. But a new research finds the link nothing and just coincidental.

In the study, the researchers have studied more than two million babies born in Sweden between 1982 and 2010. After studying them, the researchers have affirmed that there is no strong proof that c-section causes autism.

The study published in JAMA Psychiatry has also confirmed that children born from c-section were 20% more likely to be diagnosed with ASD. The researchers have affirmed that the association was not present when siblings were compared.

The association could be due to genetic or environmental factors that increase the chance of both cesarean sections and ASD. Eileen A. Curran, M.P.H., from the Cork University Maternity Hospital in Ireland along with colleagues assessed the correlation between mode of delivery and ASD.

For the study, the researchers have studied all singleton live births in Sweden from 1982 to 2010. Data included 2,697,315 children and 28,290 ASD cases. In the siblings control group, a total of 13,411 sibling pairs were included.

When compared with unassisted vaginal delivery, elective CS and emergency CS was linked with ASD in adjusted analysis.

"The association did not persist when using sibling controls, implying that this association is due to familial confounding by genetic and/or environmental factors", said the researchers.