April 25, 2009
Did anyone see this article? Breastfeeding May Fight Heart Attacks. Knowing I’d be interested in this for my childbirth education classes my mother in-law forwarded me this article. How awesome! Among the many benefits of breastfeeding: fewer dental cavities, higher IQ rates, fewer illnesses, reduced risk of allergies. Researchers are now expanding on their list of breastfeeding benefits for the mother. No longer are we limited to a reduced risk of breast cancer now we’ve conquered the leading cause of women: reduced risk of heart attacks. The study found that “women who had breastfed their babies for more than a year were 10 percent less likely to have had a heart attack, stroke, or developed heart disease than women who had never breastfed.”
What I enjoyed most about the article was that it discussed something few others dare to touch on – longevity of nursing. Finally a publication which discusses not just breastfeeding benefits but benefits that increase when nursing longer than 12 months. We’ve all heard the APA recommendation “exclusive breastfeeding” is advocated for “approximately the first 6 months after birth” and continuation of breastfeeding “for at least 12 months and thereafter for as long as mutually desired
Rarely do we read about their statement “there is no upper limit to the duration of breastfeeding and no evidence of psychological or developmental harm from breastfeeding into the third year of life or longer.” I think there is a general stigma that breastfeeding ends at 12 months of age and after that if you’re weird enough to want to keep breastfeeding you fall into the minority. Often condemned or mocked like that woman we heard about on CNN in January. In fact, you’ll find most of us become closet nursers (exclusively nursing at home – in many cases not even around family). Why?
Finally, here is a study that is not only praising the benefits of breastfeeding to the mother, but exclusively addressing the longevity of nursing being its greatest strength. Dr. Eleanor Bimla Schwarz’s goes so far as to say,”The longer a mother nurses her baby, the better for both of them.”
GO BF MOMS GO!
