Reason # 17 why breastfeeding is the NUMBER 1 public health issue - prevention of unwanted pregnancy
October
19 ,
2009
Today we move on to reason # 17, prevention of unwanted pregnancy. It is a well known fact that a significant proportion of pregnancies in the US are undesired, or at least unplanned. Exactly what the impact of this is on public health is very difficult to quantify, but it doesn't take a genius to realize that it is a big problem. It certainly leads to increased rates of abortion and an increased financial and social burden on families that may not be prepared for this.
It is also well known that breastfeeding inhibits ovulation and can prevent a woman from conceiving soon after childbirth. While it is not reliable as a form of birth control, it is a fact that it will prevent the majority of women who breastfeed from becoming pregnant, at least as long as six months, especially if they are exclusively breastfeeding.
So let’s review some similar math to what we have applied to many of our other reasons. There are about 4 million births each year in the US. Estimates are that about 45% of those are unintended. We want to increase the breastfeeding rate from 60% to 95%. That would mean that of the 4 million births each year about 1.8 million are unintended. Now let's take a wild guess. Let's say that only 1% of these unintended births are to Moms who have just had a baby and got pregnant within the first six months after delivery. That would mean 180,000 unintended births. Let's say that by increasing the breastfeeding rate from 60% to 95% we could prevent approximately 35% of these births. That would mean 35,000 less unintended births! I wonder what kind of public health impact THAT would have?
Stay tuned for our next installment, reason # 18, the ECONOMIC impact, isn't it all about the money anyway ;-)
Reasons # 15 & 16 Why Breastfeeding is the NUMBER 1 public health issue Stress and Weight Loss
October
09 ,
2009
I know that you've been anxiously waiting for the next two reasons, and i apologize for not getting myself to my computer a little sooner. Reasons number 15 and 16 are stress reduction and weight loss.
Stress reduction - studies have shown that women who are breastfeeding tend to have more positive responses to stressors than women who are not breastfeeding. This is reflected in slower heart rates, blood pressure changes and more. Especially considering how stressful it can be to raise a newborn, imagine the impact a little less stress for all Moms would have on the general public health!
Weight Loss - Studies have shown that women who breastfeed tend to lose the "baby-weight" more effectively. If they breastfed for over 6 months, they tended to lose about 5 pounds more than women who formula fed. If we review our crude math, and we increased the breasfeeding rate from 60% to 95%, at about 4 million births a year in the US, that would mean about 1,400,000 more babies being breastfed each year in the US. Let's knock off 5 pounds from 1.4 million women, that equals SEVEN MILLION LOST POUNDS! What woiuld be the public health impact of THAT! Find me another weight loss program that comes even close!
If you are still not convinced, wait for our next installment, reason # 17 prevention of unwanted pregnancy.
Reason # 14 why Breastfeeding is the Number one public health issue - cardiovascular disease
October
01 ,
2009
Today's topic is huge, too huge for just a little blogger like me. But I’ll tackle it anyway.
The risk of cardiovascular disease in women is well known, and it is now the leading cause of death for women in the US. About 27% of deaths of women in the US are due to cardiovascular disease in the US, as opposed to the next leading cause - cancer which stands at about 22%. This translates to around 500,000 deaths in women per year in this country.
We have already talked a little bit about the reduction in risk to the CHILD who is breastfed from developing cardiovascular disease as an adult. But now we are talking about what it does for Mom’s who breastfeed.
According to studies done analyzing data from two famous studies, the Nurse's Health study and the Women’s health initiative, it is clear that breastfeeding reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease. Although the numbers are quite complicated, it seems that a woman who breastfeeds is about 70% as likely to develop cardiovascular disease as a woman who has not breastfed.
Translate that to deaths per year, and you can do the crude math with me. Increase the breastfeeding rate to 95% from the current 60%. That means that about 35% or 175,000 women in the group that dies from heart disease would have breastfed their babies (because probably around 60% of those women already breastfed but got heart disease anyway). Since their risk is only 70% of the baseline risk, of those 175,000 deaths, around 52,500 would not have had cardiovascular disease! There you have it, another 52,500 women's lives saved.
If you are not convinced yet, I think you're either blind to the facts, or you are not reading this blog very carefully. So hang on and wait for more with the next post where we will discuss Reason's # 15 and 16, stress reduction and weight loss.
