August is National Breastfeeding Awareness Month.
According to new research from Cleveland Clinic, the longer a woman is on maternity leave, the longer she is likely to breastfeed.
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“We discovered that there was a wide variety of different studies, from small studies, and other ones that took place in the military, and statewide studies as well,” said Dr. Suet Kam Lam, assistant medical director of the Breastfeeding Medicine Center and Clinic at Cleveland Clinic. “But all of them were unanimous and found statistically significant outcomes and associations with increased breastfeeding duration with longer maternity leaves, which was really exciting.”
Lam, who led the research, said the American Academy of Pediatrics currently recommends women exclusively breastfeeding for the first six months of a baby’s life.
However, that’s not always possible.
In some cases, a woman may not have access to maternity leave, so they decide to skip breastfeeding altogether, or, they may stop early because they find pumping at work to be difficult.
Lam said there are many health benefits to breastfeeding, which is why she hopes this research helps lead to policy change.
Ideally, they’d like to see at least six months of paid leave offered to mothers and increased time off for their partners.
“For the mother, there’s decreased risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, decreased risks of cancers such as breast cancer. And then for the baby, decreased risks of infections like ear infections, lung infections, increased IQ over time,” she said. “It’s really a dose-dependent relationship. So, the longer you’re able to provide breast milk and the longer and the more you’re able to give it, the higher those benefits are.”
Lam said the research also highlights continued racial disparities.
They found Hispanic Americans and non-Hispanic American Black women have lower breastfeeding rates and less maternity leave.