4 reasons for mom to bag the bottle

Breast milk, as most moms know, does much more than soothe a hungry tummy. Full of antibodies and nutrients perfect for an infant’s particular needs, it’s a powerful tool for development and protection against disease. But the act of breast-feeding can also work wonders for moms.

Breast-feeding expert Diane Spatz is director of the lactation program at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She works with critically ill babies, and teaches doctors and nurses about the range of benefits breast-feeding offers moms. Spatz tells us four ways breastfeeding helps moms—even years later.

Post-baby Bps and LBs

Breast-feeding can help keep blood pressure levels low, and Spatz says it blasts off baby weight. Breast-feeding burns energy—in particular, the stored-up fat accumulated during pregnancy. It’s something moms have known for years, but maybe now even more relevant, as more women are at risk of becoming obese. “The longer Mom breast-feeds, the more protected she is from being overweight,” says Spatz, a professor of nursing and nutrition at the University of Pennsylvania.

Getting to a healthy weight after pregnancy can also fight the chance of type 2 diabetes. Though, Spatz cautions that moms who dealt with obesity pre-pregnancy shouldn’t expect breast-feeding to be a miracle diet.

Arthritis avoider

Increasing evidence shows breast-feeding may lower a mother’s risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis later in life. One recent study of 7,300 Chinese women found that women who had breast-fed were 50% less likely to develop the condition than women who hadn’t. The study showed a particularly noticeable impact for women who had breast-fed for a long period of time. Spatz says that means more than a year, which isn’t the norm here. The health effects of breast-feeding for American women are slightly more difficult to track, because women breastfeed for more varied periods of time, and many mix in formula feeding.

Experts aren’t sure exactly why breastfeeding may reduce arthritis risk in moms, Spatz says, but they do know the benefit—and many others, for both mom and baby—is tied directly to the length of time a woman breastfeeds. “It’s really all about the ‘dose response,’” she says. “The longer she is breastfeeding, the more benefits.”

Lower cancer risk

Researchers have also pointed to links between longer-term breastfeeding and a decreased risk of breast and ovarian cancers. Again, Spatz says, it’s not clear exactly what’s happening biologically to lower the risk. But it may have something to do with the typical course of development and aging of a woman’s body, and the role pregnancy and breastfeeding play. “A woman’s breast is designed to get pregnant and lactate, and if you don’t, your breasts don’t go through the final maturation process,” she says.

Help from ‘happy hormones’

Breastfeeding may also help new moms stave off postpartum depression. Spatz says the hormones released while creating milk are the same ones that make you feel good—endorphins or “happy hormones.”

Plus, there are the undeniable feel-good effects that come from time spent bonding with and providing for your baby. “If you ever speak to a mother who has met her personal breastfeeding goals, that relationship she has with her child—there’s just no other way to gain that relationship,” Spatz says.