Breastfeeding protects mothers against cardiovascular disease

Mothers who have breastfed show a lower risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) compared with those who have never breastfed during their lifetime, according to the results of a meta-analysis.

Researchers performed a systematic review and searched multiple online databases for studies that evaluated the association between history of breastfeeding and incidence of cardiovascular events among parous women. The initial search yielded 837 articles, of which eight were included in the meta-analysis.

The included studies involved 1,192,700 parous women (weighted mean age 51.3 years at baseline, 24.6 years at first birth; weighted mean number of births 2.3). Most women (82 percent) reported having ever breastfed (weighted mean lifetime duration of breastfeeding 15.6 months). Over a weighted median follow‐up of 10.3 years, there were 54,226 CVD, 26,913 coronary heart disease, 30,843 stroke, and 10,766 fatal CVD events documented.

Pooled data, obtained using a random‐effects meta‐analysis, showed that having ever breastfed had a protective effect on the following outcomes: CVD (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 0.89, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.83–0.95; I², 79.4 percent), coronary heart disease (aHR, 0.86, 95 percent CI, 0.78–0.95; I2, 79.7 percent), stroke (aHR, 0.88, 95 percent CI, 0.79–0.99; I², 79.6 percent), and fatal CVD (aHR, 0.83, 95 percent CI, 0.76–0.92; I², 47.7 percent).

The strength of associations was not attenuated by mean age at study entry, median follow‐up duration, mean parity, level of adjustment, study quality, or geographical region.

Of note, there was a progressive risk reduction in all CVD outcomes with lifetime durations of breastfeeding from 0 to 12 months, with some uncertainty for longer durations.

The quality of the evidence, which was evaluated using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation tool, ranged from very low to moderate, mainly driven by high between‐studies heterogeneity.

The findings indicate that breastfeeding has positive effects on mothers, and this benefit must be communicated effectively along with the implementation of interventions to promote and facilitate breastfeeding.