Women who breastfeed are less likely to have a stroke or die from cardiovascular disease than women who do not breastfeed, a new evidence review has found.
The meta-analysis was published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association (JAHA).
Researchers analysed health information from eight studies conducted between 1986 and 2009 in Australia, China, Norway, Japan and the US, as well as one multinational study.
The review included health records of more than 1.2million women, with an average age of 25 at first birth.
The analysis included information on how long women had breastfed during their lifetime, the number of births and whether or not women had a stroke later in life.
The findings included:
- Compared to women who never breastfed, women who reported breastfeeding during their lifetime had a 11 per cent decreased risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
- Over an average follow-up period of 10 years, women who breastfed at some time in their life were 14 per cent less likely to develop coronary heart disease; 12 per cent less likely to suffer strokes; and 17% less likely to die from cardiovascular disease.
- Women who breastfed for 12 months or longer during their lifetime appeared to be less likely to develop cardiovascular disease than women who did not breastfeed.
Shelley Miyamoto, M.D., FAHA, chair of the American Heart Association’s Council on Lifelong Congenital Heart Disease and Heart Health in the Young (Young Hearts), said:
“While the benefits of breastfeeding for infants and children are well established, mothers should be further encouraged to breastfeed their infants knowing that they are improving the health of their child and improving their own health as well.
“Raising awareness regarding the multifaceted benefits of breastfeeding could be particularly helpful to those mothers who are debating breast vs. bottle feeding.
“It should be particularly empowering for a mother to know that by breastfeeding she is providing the optimal nutrition for her baby while simultaneously lowering her personal risk of heart disease.”
A limitation of this meta-analysis is that little information was available about women who breastfed for longer than two years.
