The studies show…

Breastfeeding may lower risk of leukaemia

Breastfeeding a baby for at least six months may be linked to a lower risk of childhood leukaemia, according to a review of previously published research on the topic in June.

The findings in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Pediatrics suggest that breastfed babies have a 19 per cent lower risk of the blood cancer compared to babies who are given formula or who are breastfed for a shorter period of time.

“The many potential preventive health benefits of breastfeeding should also be communicated openly to the general public, not only to mothers, but so breastfeeding can be more socially accepted and facilitated,” said the study led by Efrat Amitay and Lital Keinan-Boker of the University of Haifa, Israel.

Breastfeeding leads to higher IQ, earnings later

People breastfed as infants have higher intelligence scores in adulthood, and higher earnings, according to a study published in March that tracked the development of 3,500 newborns over 30 years.

And, critically, the socioeconomic status of mothers appeared to have little impact on breastfeeding results, according to a paper published by The Lancet medical journal.

“The effect of breastfeeding on brain development and child intelligence is well established,” lead author Bernardo Lessa Horta of the Federal University of Pelotas in Brazil said in a statement.

Breastfeeding could help moms quit smoking

Seventy per cent of moms-to-be who quit smoking during pregnancy pick it up again within the first year after childbirth, but breastfeeding could reduce that statistic, according to a new study.

“Breastfeeding seems to be a protective factor against increases in smoking after childbirth, so interventions should educate women about breastfeeding to maximise effectiveness,” says Shannon Shisler of the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Of new moms who relapse, 67 per cent revisit the habit just three months after their children are born and 90 per cent resume by six months, according to the study, which was published in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research.

The study followed 168 women who smoked during their pregnancies from beginning to end.

Breastfeeding was the only factor that appeared to make a difference in smoking behaviour, for those who did so for at least 90 days smoked less than those whose breastfeeding term was shorter or non-existent.