Breastfeeding is well known to benefit babies — supporting immunity, reducing infections, and more. What’s less widely known is that breastfeeding also offers important health benefits for mothers, including a protective effect against breast cancer.

Research consistently shows that breastfeeding is associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer for the mother, and the longer the total time spent breastfeeding across a lifetime, the greater the protective effect appears to be. Breastfeeding is also linked to a lower risk of ovarian cancer and type 2 diabetes for mothers.

The likely reasons include hormonal changes during breastfeeding (such as reduced lifetime exposure to oestrogen) and the shedding of breast tissue during and after breastfeeding. While breastfeeding is one of several factors that influence risk, it’s a meaningful one — and another reason support for breastfeeding matters.

If you’re facing breastfeeding challenges and would like your baby assessed for issues such as tongue-tie, our pediatric team can help.