Last week we listed the breastfeeding benefits to the baby by the Cleveland Clinic (1/1/2018). Below are the breastfeeding benefits the Clinic listed for the teen and the mother.
Teens and adults will find benefits for life:
- Less likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis and lupus
- Less likely to develop heart disease in adulthood
- Lower risk of multiple sclerosis
- Lower rates of pre- and postmenopausal breast cancers
Breastfeeding is healthier for mom physically:
- Promotes faster weight loss after birth, burning about 500 extra calories a day to build and maintain a milk supply.
- Stimulates the uterus to contract and return to normal size.
- Less postpartum bleeding
- Fewer urinary tract infections
- Less chance of anemia
- Less risk of postpartum depression and more positive mood
Healthier for mom emotionally:
- Breastfeeding produces the naturally soothing hormones oxytocin and prolactin that promote stress reduction and positive feelings in the nursing mother.
- Increased confidence and self-esteem
- Increased calmness. Breastfed babies cry less overall, and have fewer incidences of childhood illness. Breastfeeding can support the wellness of body, mind, and spirit for the whole family.
- Breastfeeding makes travel easier. Breast milk is always clean and the right temperature.
- Physical/emotional bonding between mother and child is increased. Breastfeeding promotes more skin-to-skin contact, more holding and stroking. Many feel that affectionate bonding during the first years of life help reduce social and behavioral problems in both children and adults.
- Breastfeeding mothers learn to read their infant’s cues and babies learn to trust caregivers. This helps shape the infant’s early behavior.
Benefits for life, breastfeeding may result in:
- Lower risk of breast cancer
- Lower risk of ovarian cancer
- Lower risk of rheumatoid arthritis and lupus
- Less endometriosis
- Less osteoporosis with age
- Less diabetes
- Less hypertension decreases blood pressure
- Less cardiovascular disease
Sheila: Many of these breastfeeding benefits are listed on pages 103 and 104 of our teaching manual, Natural Family Planning: The Complete Approach, as gathered from the websites of The American Academy of Pediatrics, The American Academy of Family Physicians and the United States Breastfeeding Committee. Other breastfeeding benefits researched and published in 2018 were covered at the blogs at NFPandmore.org during the weeks of February.