A lot of things go pink in October for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. We talk about early detection of breast cancer, supporting breast cancer patients and survivors, and finding better treatments for breast cancer. But let’s also talk about breast cancer prevention – and part of that is breastfeeding!
So much of the discussion of breastfeeding focuses on benefits for the baby. But we know that there are big benefits for mom as well. When we get pregnant and give birth, there’s a complicated interplay of hormonal and physiological changes that prepare the body for breastfeeding. Our bodies expect it to be part of our reproductive life cycle. When our society doesn’t support mothers to breastfeed, we are disrupting this cycle and placing them at increased risk for a number of issues later in life: osteoporosis, heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and ovarian and breast cancer.
The longer you breastfeed, the stronger the “dose” of prevention against getting breast cancer later in life. For each 12-month period a woman breastfeeds, one study calculated a 4.3% reduction in relative risk of getting breast cancer later in life, compared with women who didn’t breastfeed. So a mother who breastfeeds 3 children for 2 years each would reduce her relative risk by over 25%! There is also growing evidence that breastfeeding specifically reduces the risk of particular aggressive types of breast cancer, which are more common in African-American women.
Does this mean someone who breastfeeds is totally protected against breast cancer, and someone who doesn’t breastfeed will definitely get it? Nope! This is just about changes in risk – sadly, there is no way to know exactly who will get breast cancer. But we know that by supporting all moms to breastfeed, some cases of breast cancer will be avoided. And the next time someone tells you your baby is “too old to breastfeed”, smile and say “Oh, we need at least another 12 months! We’re reducing my risk of breast cancer!”
Your MILC LCs,
Rebecca, Ellen, Deborah, Elley, and Nancy
