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Benefits of breastfeeding to the new mother

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eMediNexus    22 January 2019

Breastfeeding is known to be beneficial both for the mother and the baby. Evidence indicates that breastfeeding women are likely to have improved health in the short-term, and have decreased likelihood of developing future diseases. Breastfeeding has short-term as well as long-term benefits to mothers.1

The benefits of breastfeeding to the mother include reduction of maternal bleeding after delivery, rapid involution of uterus, positive metabolic changes, promotion of postpartum weight loss, reduction of stress, delays ovulation, and increased child spacing owing to lactational amenorrhea.1,2

Continued breastfeeding confers the following benefits:

  • Enhancement in postpartum weight loss
  • Prolonged lactational amenorrhea
  • Decrease in visceral adiposity
  • Reduction in the risks of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, breast cancer, and ovarian cancer.

Breastfeeding stimulates the release of oxytocin, stimulates uterine contractions and reduces the risk of hemorrhage.3 Breastfeeding can improve bone mineralization, thus reducing the risk of osteoporosis. It could also protect against rheumatoid arthritis. It could also prevent or limit the duration of post-natal depression in mothers.3

Baker et al noted in their study that breastfeeding was associated with lower postpartum weight retention in all categories of prepregnancy BMI. When combined with gestational weight gain values of approximately 12 kg, exclusive breastfeeding as recommended could eliminate weight retention by 6 months postpartum in many women.4 Exclusive breastfeeding naturally suppresses ovulation, thereby acting as a natural birth control. However, it must be used with caution.1

Breastfeeding facilitates mother-infant bonding. Additionally, bonding is often reported as a reason for breastfeeding by women.1 Breastfeeding mothers have shown higher brain responses to their own infants’ cry and exhibited more sensitive behavior than formula-feeding mothers in a study.5 Kim et al noted links between breastfeeding and greater response to infant cues in brain regions implicated in maternal-infant bonding and empathy during early postpartum.5

Breastfeeding is associated with positive metabolic changes. The favorable metabolic changes in lactation continue after weaning. This is associated with long-term reduction in chronic disease risk among women who have breastfed.1

Lactation is associated with improved insulin-sensitivity.1 Longer duration of breastfeeding has been shown to be associated with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes.6 Lactation may reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes in young and middle-aged women by improving glucose homeostasis.6 Breastfeeding has positive effects on maternal blood lipid levels as well. A study revealed that among postmenopausal women, increased duration of lactation was linked with a lower prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and cardiovascular disease. Women with a single live birth who breast-fed for 7-12 months had lesser odds of developing cardiovascular disease than women who had never breast-fed.7

Breastfeeding is also associated with a reduced risk of certain cancers. A meta-analysis revealed that lesser number of parous women with breast cancer had ever breastfed (71% vs. 79%) as compared to parous controls, and their average lifetime duration of breastfeeding was also shorter (9.8 vs. 15.6 months). Thus, it could be stated that the longer women breast feed the more they are protected against breast cancer.8 Breastfeeding could exert a protective effect against both pre-menopausal and post-menopausal breast cancer.3

Women should therefore be encouraged to breastfeed their babies as it is beneficial not only for their babies but has numerous benefits for their own health as well.

References

  1. Dieterich CM, Felice JP, O’Sullivan E, Rasmussen KM. Breastfeeding and Health Outcomes for the Mother-Infant Dyad. Pediatr Clin North Am. 2013 Feb; 60(1): 31–48.
  2. Anatolitou F. Human milk benefits and breastfeeding. Journal of Pediatric and Neonatal Individualized Medicine 2012;1(1):11-18.
  3. The health and economic benefits of breastfeeding. Available from: http___www.aphref.aph.gov.au_house_committee_haa_breastfeeding_report_chapter3%20.pdf.
  4. Baker JL, Gamborg M, Heitmann BL, et al. Breastfeeding reduces postpartum weight retention. Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Dec;88(6):1543-51.
  5. Kim P, Feldman R, Mayes LC, et al. Breastfeeding, brain activation to own infant cry, and maternal sensitivity. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2011 Aug;52(8):907-15.
  6. Stuebe AM, Rich-Edwards JW, Willett WC, et al. Duration of lactation and incidence of type 2 diabetes. JAMA. 2005 Nov 23;294(20):2601-10.
  7. Schwarz EB, Ray RM, Stuebe AM, et al. Duration of lactation and risk factors for maternal cardiovascular disease. Obstet Gynecol. 2009 May;113(5):974-82.
  8. Collaborative Group on Hormonal Factors in Breast Cancer. Breast cancer and breastfeeding: collaborative reanalysis of individual data from 47 epidemiological studies in 30 countries, including 50302 women with breast cancer and 96973 women without the disease. Lancet. 2002 Jul 20;360(9328):187-95.

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