Effect of pre-eclampsia on lactogenesis: Breastfeeding and the effect of breastfeeding on women's postpartum blood pressure

Abstract

Preeclampsia is a serious complication of pregnancy, affecting 3 to 8% of all pregnancies and endangering both the pregnant woman and the fetus. The predominant etiological origin of preeclampsia has been shown to result from abnormal placentation, leading to abnormal remodeling of the spiral arteries and placental ischemia. The placenta plays an important role in pregnancy as it produces a multitude of hormones which are necessary for the maintenance of women's physiology, the development of embryos and also for the promotion of the developed mammary epithelium, so that breastfeeding becomes possible postnatally. Human breast milk is the most valuable nutritional source for infants. Women with preeclampsia more often have problems with lactogenesis II and breastfeeding than women without. It appears that the effect of preeclampsia on breastfeeding is multifactorial in nature and that a strong predictor of breastfeeding outcome is women's intention to breastfeed. Women with hypertensive disorders breastfeed for a shorter period of time and use the formula more easily. Breastfeeding appears to be protectively associated with blood pressure in later life in women, and the shortest duration of breastfeeding associated with benefit is one month. Further investigations are needed to elucidate the mechanism of delayed galactogenesis II in the presence of preeclampsia. Education about the benefits of breastfeeding to prevent hypertension in women is a low-risk intervention and may have a positive impact on cardiovascular outcomes in mothers over time.