Types Of Cancer

Breastfeeding helps to reduce a mother’s cancer risks, besides protecting her health in many others ways. Here are 10-of many-good reasons why every mother should breastfeed her child

• Breastfeeding lowers your risk of developing endometrial cancer. In analysis of 12 case-control studies, women who had breastfed an infant had a 20% lower risk of ovarian cancer than women who had never breastfed; each month of breastfeeding was associated with a 1% reduction in overall risk

• Breastfeeding helps you get back into shape. Breastfeeding requires an average of 500 extra calories per day. Mothers who breastfed exclusively or partially had significantly larger reductions in hip circumference and were less above their pre-pregnancy weights at 1 month post-partum than mothers who fed formula exclusively

• Suckling helps shrink your uterus childbirth. Nursing will help you to regain your figure more quickly also because the process of lactation causes the uterus (which has increased during pregnancy to about 20 times its normal size) to shrink more quickly to its pre-pregnancy size. On the other hand, the uterus of the non breastfeeding mother will never shrink back to its pre-pregnant size. It always remain slightly enlarge.

• Suckling helps prevent post-partum haemorrhage. Nursing her baby causes the mother’s body to release oxytocin, which stimulates contraction which help shrink the uterus back to pre-pregnancy size while expelling the placenta. These contraction also shut off the maternal blood vessels that formerly fed the baby and discourage excessive bleeding. Women who choose not to breastfeed must be given synthetic oxytocin to insure against haemorrhaging.

• Breastfeeding decreases insulin requirements for breastfeeding mothers who are diabetics. In one study of 17 insulin-dependent diabetic mothers, 6 had an average decrease of insulin dosage of 33%, 7 a decrease of 13% and only 4 needed to have slightly more insulin while they breastfed. So, although you need extra calories to supply milk for your baby you may actually find that the amount of insulin you need falls after delivery.

• Breastfeeding is a natural contraceptive. This is true only if you are exclusively breastfeeding, and have not yet gotten your period back following childbirth. Night nursing encourages longer amenorrhoea (period-lessness). If you really don’t want to get pregnant again, use some back-up birth control even if you haven’t gotten your period again. You will have no way of knowing when your first ovulation will occur, and by the time you figure it out you maybe expecting!. Still generally speaking, breastfeeding contributes to optimum child spacing

• Protects you against anaemia (iron deficiency). Since many exclusively breastfeeding mothers do not begin to menstruate for a year or longer, their iron stores are not depleted by monthly bleeding

• Self confidence booster for mom. There is nothing more amazing than looking at a plump 6-month-old baby and knowing that the only nutrition this happy little creature has received has come from your own

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