It's been known for some time that, along with significant health benefits for baby, breastfeeding is good for mums too, specifically in reducing your chances of developing pre-menopausal breast cancer and ovarian cancer, as well as in protecting your bones from osteoporosis. A new study from the Harvard Medical School, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, has now added a reduction in the risk of developing type II diabetes to that list of maternal benefits.
Two separate studies produced data on 157,000 mums in the US, on which the Harvard team based their research. The data suggested a link between the extra energy required for lactation and changes in insulin and glucose levels. These changes translated into a reduced risk of type II diabetes over the 15 years following the birth of the last breastfed child. Conversely, women who took lactation-suppressing medication were found to have an increased risk of developing type II diabetes.
In good news for mums with several children, the study also showed that with each extra year of breastfeeding the diabetes risk was further reduced.
Unfortunately for mums who develop gestational diabetes, the Harvard team found that their risk for type II diabetes wasn't reduced by breastfeeding, regardless of how long a mother breastfed for.
While the research team said that they were confident that their study indicated further health benefits for breastfeeding mums, they acknowledged that further research was needed to ascertain what other hormonal and biological factors could also be at play.
for more information see the Journal of the American Medical Association's website.
