20/06/2024

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Breastfeeding contributes to mother’s health too.

Breastfeeding is not just about feeding a baby. Important processes take place in the breastfeeding mother’s body that have a positive long-term influence on her health. The Lancet 2016 https://www.thelancet.com/series/breastfeeding

As a result, breastfeeding also has many benefits for maternal health. It promotes post-partum weight loss, lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, breast and ovarian cancer, helps prevent anaemia and osteoporosis, helps space births (LAM), promotes mental health and attachment by creating a strong mother-child bond.

Obesity

Check our dedicated page on Obesity

Endometriosis

Breastfeeding reduces the risk of endometriosis.

• History of breast feeding and risk of incident endometriosis : prospective cohort study. Farland LV et al. BMJ 2017 ; 358 : 3778)
  
  Endometriosis is a chronic gynaecological condition affecting around 10% of women in the United States. Breastfeeding (and the lactational amenorrhoea that accompanies it) could be a modifiable risk factor for endometriosis. – The study concluded that the total duration of exclusive breastfeeding had a significant impact on the risk of endometriosis.

Breastfeeding reduces the pain associated with endometriosis

• Effects of breastfeeding on endometriosis-related pain : a prospective observational study. Porta RP et al., Int J Env Res Public Health 2021 ; 18 : 10602. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34682348/
  
  Breastfeeding, particularly if exclusive, may cause improvement in dysmenorrhea and CPP (chronic pelvic pain) proportional to the duration of breastfeeding, as well as a reduction in the size of ovarian endometriomas.