Breastfeeding May Lower Risk Of Type 2 Diabetes In Moms

Despite these metabolic benefits, evidence that lactation prevents type 2 diabetes remains inconclusive, particularly among women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).

Gestational diabetes, an inability to make or process enough of the hormone insulin to maintain healthy levels of glucose, or sugars, in the blood, occurs in 5 to 9 percent of USA pregnancies, Gunderson and colleagues note in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Study lead author Erica P. Gunderson, PhD, MPH, MS, epidemiologist and senior research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, said both the level and duration of breastfeeding may offer unique benefits of protection against type 2 diabetes after delivery to those with gestational diabetes during pregnancy.

It pays to breastfeed for women with gestational diabetes, as new research has found that it reduces their risk for type 2 diabetes.

Gunderson said the policy in their study was to focus on the breast feeding efforts to high-risk women either those who have GDM or are obese.

Results indicate that women who only provided breast milk were 54 percent less likely to develop type 2 diabetes.

While it only occurs during pregnancy, it increases the risk a woman will go on to develop Type 2 diabetes. Women who fed their babies a mixture of formula and breast milk or even mostly used formula reduced the odds of type 2 diabetes by more than a third compared to formula-feeding alone, researchers found.

Dr Caughey is from Oregon Health and Science University School of Medicine in Portland. The women were divided into five categories: women who were exclusively breastfeeding, exclusively feeding milk formula, mostly breastfeeding, mostly providing milk formula and mothers who provided an equal mix of breast milk and milk formula. The study took into account such influences such as obesity before pregnancy, weight gain during pregnancy, prenatal metabolism, treatment for gestational diabetes, C-section deliveries, infant size and birth outcomes, as well as race and ethnicity, and lifestyle behaviors.

The participants were given in-person exams between six and nine weeks following delivery as they joined the study. The SWIFT cohort was racially and ethnically diverse, with 75 percent of the women reporting Hispanic, Asian or African-American heritage. For example, breastfeeding for at least 10 months straight reduced risk of type 2 diabetes by 57 percent when compared to breastfeeding only for two-months or less. Women with gestational diabetes are up to seven times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes within several years after pregnancy.

Researchers hope that their findings will help the health care systems to allocate greater resources for provision of breastfeeding education. “One of the possible biologic explanations is that this gives the woman’s pancreatic beta cells a bit of a break, allowing for recovery from the demands of pregnancy”.