Jennifer,
I like to talk about this whenever I give an interview on breastfeeding
because many are unaware.
I shall paste in some paragraphs out of a document I wrote some time ago.
Since I wrote this there has been a study published (by Stuebe) that found
that women who breastfed had a lower risk of heart attack.
Karleen

Hip fracture
Hip fractures are common in elderly women and have a high mortality and
morbidity. However, women who breastfeed their children have a reduced risk
of hip fracture, the reduction of risk being dependant on duration of
breastfeeding. Thus, one study of Australian women who had breastfed each of
their children for 9 months or more reduced their risk of hip fracture by
72% as compared to women who did not breastfeed their children (Cumming and
Klineberg, 1993) and there is evidence that the risk of hip fracture
continues to decrease with breastfeeding beyond 9 months per child (Huo et
al., 2003).



Breast Cancer
Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer and cause of cancer death in
women in Australia. However, breastfeeding reduces the risk of a woman
developing breast cancer in a very strong dose dependent relationship. It
has been estimated that each 12 months of breastfeeding reduces the risk of
breast cancer development by 4.3% (when  breastfeeding duration per child is
relatively short) (Collaborative Group on Hormonal Factors in Breast Cancer,
2002) and that the impact of breastfeeding on breast cancer reduction
increases with long-term breastfeeding such that women who breastfeed each
of their children for 2 years or more halve their risk of developing breast
cancer as compared to women who breastfeed each of their children for 6
months (Zheng et al., 2000). Thus a recent meta-analysis concluded that “the
lack of or short lifetime duration of breastfeeding typical of women in
developed countries makes a major contribution to the high incidence of
breast cancer in these countries” (Collaborative Group on Hormonal Factors
in Breast Cancer, 2002). It is thought that breastfeeding may reduce the
risk of breast cancer because it reduces the exposure to the cyclic hormones
of reproductive life, physical changes in the breast that associated with
breastfeeding may be protective, breastfeeding reduces concentration of
toxic organochlorines in the breast and because breastfeeding may activate
factors that suppress the growth of breast cancer cells (Zheng et al.,
2000).



Rheumatoid arthritis
Hormonal factors are involved in the development of rheumatoid arthritis and
since breastfeeding can impact the hormonal milieu of women in the long term
(Lankarani-Fard et al., 2001) it is not surprising that lactation history
can affect the likelihood of women developing rheumatoid arthritis. Thus, a
very large prospective study found that women who had a lifetime
breastfeeding duration of 12 months had a 20% decreased risk and women who
had a lifetime breastfeeding duration of 2 years or more had a 50% decreased
(ie halved) risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis as compared to women who
had breastfed for 3 months or less (Karlson et al., 2004).



Ovarian Cancer
Breastfeeding also impacts the likelihood of women developing ovarian
cancer.  Research has found that breastfeeding for 2-7 months results in an
average 20% reduction in incidence of ovarian cancer (studies have found up
to a 50% reduction with the relationship being dose dependent) (Labbok,
2001).



Diabetes
A recent study found that each year of breastfeeding reduces the risk of
developing Type 2 diabetes by 15% in young and middle aged women even when
BMI and other risk factors are controlled for (Stuebe et al., 2005). It is
thought that this may be because breastfeeding improves the stability of
glucose levels in women (Stuebe et al., 2005).




----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jennifer Dedrich" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, October 01, 2007 5:44 AM
Subject: Health Benefits to the Breast Feeding Mom


What are the benefits of breast feeding to the mother?

There is a lot of research showing the health benefits of breast milk to
babies,
but what about the mother?  There isn’t a lot of research showing what the
benefits are to the mother.  Certainly a mom wants to have a happy, healthy
baby, but if she knows the benefits of breast feeding for her, she might be
more inclined to breast feed.

One advantage I found is that in breast feeding, oxytocin is released which
causes uterine contractions.  In post-partum mom’s this is important because
it prevents postpartum hemorrhaging and promotes uterine involution.  Breast
feeding mom’s if they strictly breast feed only, can also delay the return
of
there menstrual cycle.  Who wouldn’t love that?

From my instructor and from research, I have also found that strict breast
feeding is also a from of contraception with 98 to 99 percent prevention of
pregnancy in the first six months.  This is documented research.  Another
major bonus!

There are many long term benefits of breast feeding as well, including a
decreased risk of many types of cancer, optimal metabolic profiles and
psychological benefits.  Breast feeding moms have an edge on losing weight
post partum since their caloric intake is being depleted from the production
and excretion of breast milk.  This also helps with diabetic moms.  Moms who
breast feed have lower glucose levels than non-breast feeding moms.

Ovarian and uterine cancers have been found to be more common in women
who did not breastfeed than those that did breast feed.  This may be due to
higher levels of estrogen from not breast feeding.  It is now estimated that
breastfeeding from six to 24 months throughout a mother's reproductive
lifetime may reduce the risk of breast cancer by 11 to 25 percent (Lyde
1989;
Newcomb 1994).

What do you think?  Do you have anything to add to this?  I am unable to
have children and the thought of breast feeding used to be repulsive to me,
but now that I am educated in the benefits to both mom and baby, I can see
why many women choose to do this.  I personally think more women should be
educated in the advantages to them.

Jennifer Dedrich,
Ivy Tech Student Nurse
Indianapolis, IN

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