Once again research has shown that it’s hard to beat Mother Nature’s strategic plan when it comes to breastfeeding and lactation. In October 2007 the World Health Organization (WHO) published a report on long-term health implications of breastfeeding and mother’s milk for the child. That same month the World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute of Cancer Research included the apparent role of breastfeeding and lactation in the prevention of certain types of cancers for women, and added a caveat about the role breastfeeding may play in cancer prevention for the formerly breastfed child. I wrote about this for baby gooroo® in an article entitled “Mother Nature Knows Best.”

Well, good old, multi-tasking Mother Nature has done it again! In the March 2008 issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, researchers found a longer duration of breastfeeding was associated with a lower risk for developing metabolic syndrome, or MetSyn, during midlife for women with a history of pregnancy and birth.

MetSyn refers to a group of physical markers, including obesity, high blood pressure, insulin resistance, and high cholesterol and/or triglycerides. A woman with MetSyn is more likely to develop diabetes and cardiovascular disease, including cardiac events. Apparently, breastfeeding/lactation makes “demands” on the new mother’s body to work more efficiently, and this greater efficiency persists – at least for a while – once breastfeeding ends.

The discovery of a “dose response” and level of risk for MetSyn may be one of the researchers’ most interesting findings. The greater the duration (or length) of breastfeeding/lactation, the lower the rate of MetSyn. (However, this effect diminished among women who had had more than three pregnancies.)

Can’t speak for anyone else, but I like knowing that Mother Nature keeps looking out for us!