Many studies have already shown how awesome breastfeeding is for the health of the baby, but this is also great for moms too, especially for those who have been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS).
According to a team of German researchers, MS women who breastfed exclusively had a significantly lower chance of developing postpartum relapse than those who didn't. Exclusive breastfeeding is defined as breastfeeding without supplementing it with other fluids such as formula milk.
Postpartum relapse is common among women with MS. At least 20% of new moms can go through it particularly during the first 4 months after delivery. However, breastfeeding for at least 2 months may prevent such relapse for around half a year.
For the study, Dr. Kerstin Hellwig from Ruhr-University Bochum, and her team looked into the records of more than 200 women diagnosed with MS. Most of them had DMT (disease-modifying therapy) agents, a group of medications to help control the progress and symptoms of the disease. These data were obtained between 2008 and 2012. They also looked into the German registries for MS and pregnancies for their one-year follow-up.
Based on their records, most of the women preferred to breastfeed exclusively while about 20% breastfed non-exclusively. At least 19% didn't breastfeed at all.
Among those who breastfed non-exclusively, around 38% of them developed a relapse within the first half year after the giving birth, more than 10% higher than those who breastfed exclusively.
Although the study didn't establish the cause and effect, the link between breastfeeding and lowered risk of MS relapse has been categorized by the researchers as plausible. Looking further into the data, they discovered that after the sixth month, the risk of relapse among exclusive breastfeeding mothers increase. Around this time, supplemental feeding is given to babies. Further, the women started to ovulate normally as baby depended less on the mother's milk production.
The study's entirety is available in JAMA Neurology.
