Women with a history of chronic extra weight may stop breastfeeding their babies sooner than other mothers, a study from Oklahoma State University finds.
Researchers surveyed mothers about breastfeeding their first biological child and found that mothers who reported a longer history of being overweight/obese breastfed their children for a shorter duration, especially compared to mothers who had never been overweight. Pediatricians recommend that mothers exclusively breastfeed for the first 6 months of an infant’s life with continued breastfeeding for 12 months.
These recommendations are based on benefits for both mothers and infants. Breastfeeding mothers experience reduced risk of breast cancer, myocardial infarction, and diabetes while breastfed infants have lower risk of infections, diabetes, and sudden infant death syndrome.
“Breastfeeding can be stressful enough on new mothers,” said lead author Dr. Misty Hawkins, assistant professor of clinical psychology at Oklahoma State University. “If we know that women who want to breastfeed but have a history of extra weight are at higher risk for breastfeeding difficulties, then we can develop tailored interventions to help these moms succeed.”
On average, women without a history of extra weight or whose weight cycled up and down typically met the minimum requirement of 12 months total breastfeeding. Mothers who reported chronic overweight did not meet the minimum on average. Moreover – regardless of weight – mothers in the survey did not meet the exclusive breastfeeding recommendation of six months.
Previous research has linked obesity to shorter breastfeeding duration. This study is the first to suggest that timing of obesity and overweight may be an important consideration but does not suggest that developing overweight/obesity before or after puberty makes a difference.
Hawkins heads the Research on Emotions and Cognition in Health (REACH) Lab at OSU. The lab studies how emotions and cognitive function contribute to the development of poor health and chronic diseases as well as how these diseases and poor health impact people’s emotions and cognition. Hawkins is currently the principal investigator for three federally-funded research awards.