To all of the new moms who debate whether to breastfeed or not, a recent study was published saying that breastfeeding had a protective effect on the mothers with a reduced risk in diabetes, high blood pressure and for developing cardiovascular disease during menopause. How can the act of breastfeeding have so many long term benefits?
Breastfeeding is known to have many positive side effects for the mother -- burning off tons of extra calories (dropping that baby weight), causing uterine contractions to reshape the uterus back to its normal size and reducing the risk of type-2 diabetes, osteoporosis and breast cancer. While the docs don't know how it works physiologically, the results are easier to study than the mechanism itself. One hypothesis is that the horomone oxytocin is produced during breastfeeding and causes the blood vessels to be more flexible and more resistant to plaque build-up. Our bodies do amazing things all on their own. Breastfeeding is completely natural and women's bodies are built to produce, nourish and recover. It's not surprising that the female body has built in recovery-horomones to fix itself to create more babies!
So, if you're a new mom or a future mom, think through all of the choices and consider not only the health benefits for yourself but all of the immunological and caloric benefits for your new baby.
breastfeeding.com has a lot of information for you to consider
Breastfeeding associated with increased intelligence
Source: NY Times Article, April 19, 2009
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