Breastfeeding: The Maternal Health Benefits

admin2021-06-03T06:30:30+00:00Breastfeeding: The Maternal Health Benefits (Beyond the love, beyond the bond)      Breastfeeding is universally endorsed as the gold nutrition standard by the World Health and scientific organization. In fact, expected mothers know the potential benefits of it for the baby’s immune function and intellect. However, mothers could also be asking themselves: Is there anything in breastfeeding acquisition for me? What breastfeeding do to the health of mother? Research offers a range of optimal and potential benefits such as physiological, psychological, and economical as well.         In the basic form, mom devotes an estimated 525 to 625 calories (during lactation period) per day providing 750 ml of milk infants require daily over the first year of life. Breastfeeding burns extra calories, so it can help you lose pregnancy weight faster. It releases oxytocin, which helps your uterus to return to its pre-pregnancy size and may reduce uterine bleeding after birth.  Breastfeeding also has really important effect on woman’s blood pressure. According to a new study, women who have been breastfeeding for longer periods of time and have breastfed more than one baby are less likely to suffer from hypertension (high blood pressure). It also found out that mothers don’t breastfeed have more at risk of cardiovascular disease regardless of their diet, exercise, whether or not they are smoking, and family history too. Lastly, it may also protect against breast and ovarian cancers by suppressing ovulation and thus limiting lifetime estrogen exposure (Clemons & Giss, 2001; Key & Pike, 1998). Theoretically, it may reduce the risk of breast cancer, because estrogen increases rates of breast cell proliferation and differentiation.  A review by Shoham (1994) revealed that 6 of 11 studies found that breastfeeding was related risk of ovarian cancer. More recently, researchers analyzed 391 cases of epithelial ovarian cancer among 149,693 women in the Nurses’ Health Study (Danforth et al, .2007). They found that for each month of additional breastfeeding, the risk of epithelial ovarian cancer was reduced by 2%.         New mothers struggle to meet to find for their baby while trying to meet the needs of partners, other children, and themselves (Gruis, 1977). Given all the stressful demand and challenges parenthood brings, it is perhaps unsurprising that approximately 1 in 5 women self-reported depressive symptoms within first year after birth (Gavin et al a, 2005). The earliest studies done on rodents revealed that lactating dams were remarkably resistant to stress. Lactating rodents exposed...