Health effects of breastfeeding on the mother

Abstract

We evaluated the effect of breastfeeding on maternal health outcomes. We distinguished between long-term effects (breast carcinoma, ovarian carcinoma, endometrial carcinoma, osteoporosis, and type2 diabetes mellitus) and short-term effects (lactational amenorrhea, postpartum depression, and postpartum weight change).Predominant breastfeeding increases the duration of lactational amenorrhea, which has ashort-term effect on the reduction of fertility. There are many studies that show that breastfeeding is protective against breast, ovarian carcinoma, and endometrial carcinoma. The effects depend on the duration of breastfeeding. There is evidence that breastfeeding reduces the risk of type2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome and cardiac diseases. However, an association between breastfeeding and bone mineral density or maternal depression or postpartum weight change was not clearly evident.