Breastfeeding Helps Protect Mothers from Heart Attacks
February 15, 2007 by Angela White, J.D., breastfeeding counselor
Filed under advantages of breastfeeding, health of the mother, scientific studies
A study out of Harvard Medical School indicates that breastfeeding for a total of at least two years reduces a woman’s heart attack risk by 19 percent! The study followed nearly 100,000 nurses who gave birth between 1998 and 2002. Those who breastfed for at least two years were 19 percent less likely to suffer a heart attack than those who did not breastfeed.
The Telegraph quotes study leader Alison Steube:
“Pregnancy is associated with a number of things that you normally wouldn’t want to happen to your body including storing more fat and having higher than normal levels of fatty acids circulating in the blood. By breastfeeding, mothers can convert those energy reserves into nutrition for their infants.
Breastfeeding isn’t just good for babies, it’s good for mothers, too.”
Of course I think this is great news, although I realize women are not going to base their decision whether or not to breastfeed on the fact that it reduces heart attack risk. It’s just a nice little reward for those who do decide to breastfeed.
What scares the heck out of me is that like the nurses in the study, I gave birth in 2002. I’m among a group of women who are having heart attacks?! Thank goodness I’ve been breastfeeding for a total of almost five years! Thank goodness I exercise and eat well!
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Check out what others are saying about this post...[...] New Scientist reports from a meeting of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine in San Francisco that mothers who breastfeed for a total of at least two years have a 19% lower risk of having a heart attack. Angela at Breastfeeding 1-2-3 has more on breastfeeding and its effect on heart disease. [...]
[...] It’s disappointing that businesses fail to recognize that breastfeeding not only benefits babies but benefits nursing mothers and their employers! Breastfeeding protects a mother’s health in many ways (I just wrote about how it reduces a mother’s risk of heart attack) and because breastfed babies are sick less often than bottle-fed babies, nursing mothers do not require as much time off work to care for sick children. Providing reasonable work breaks and a comfortable place to nurse benefits employers by providing a positive work environment and reducing absenteeism. Also, let’s not forget the simple fact that a happy mother is a good employee! Legislation shouldn’t be required to help employers realize that fact and it’s shameful that even when such legislation is proposed it is shot down by business lobbyists. [...]