Breastfeeding, although physically exhausting, offers many advantages for you and for your baby now and in the future. You have probably heard of some of the developmental advantages breastmilk can offer your baby, but did you know that it can also improve your sleep and reduce your risk of certain diseases in the future?

Breastfeeding advantages for you

1. Less stress and better sleep for you

Oxytocin, a hormone that is released during breastfeeding, is responsible. Women who breastfeed experience decreased anxiety, tension and aggression, and increased social functioning compared to non-breastfeeding women and women who have never given birth. Even better, in the hours following breastfeeding women are less sensitive to stress; a very valuable response when living with a demanding newborn! 

Comparing women who breastfeed with women who formula-feed, the nursing mothers benefit from improved and prolonged sleep. Prolactin, the hormone responsible for milk production, is at work here. Women who breastfeed have higher levels of prolactin than non-breastfeeders and prolactin facilitates slow-wave or deep sleep.

2. Lifelong risk reduction of heart disease and breast cancer for you

The benefits of breastfeeding continue even after you wean. Women who have breastfed have less risk of cardiovascular disease – hypertension, stroke, heart attack and diabetes type 2 – and the longer the period of breastfeeding the greater the protection. 

Breastfeeding reduces the incidence of postpartum depression, maternal obesity, and even breast cancer. 

Breastfeeding advantages for baby

Enhanced social and intellectual development for baby

You are likely aware that your antibodies are transferred to your baby in breastmilk, but is there anything else that formula doesn’t contain? Yes, in addition to anti-infective factors, breast milk also contains oxytocin, hormones, and fatty acids, which are not found in formula. Oxytocin is responsible for the improvements in social and emotional intelligence, and decrease in aggression seen in breastfed babies even as adults. Fatty acids, particularly a type called LC-PUFAs, are responsible for intelligence and cognitive development. LC-PUFAs accelerate the development of white matter, which receives sensory information from the body. Formula can contain two important LC-PFAs, DHA and ARA, which improve white matter development as well, although not to the same extent as breastmilk. 

Tips for formula-feeding

Fed is best! And if you decide to formula feed or cannot breastfeed there are some things you can keep in mind. Choose a formula that is supplemented with iron,  DHA and ARA, and maximize your skin-to-skin time. DHA has been shown to improve cognitive development and touch will increase your baby’s production of oxytocin to aid in their social development. 

Sources & Abbreviations

• Bick J et al. Child Dev. 2013.
• Hahn-Holbrook J. 2018.
• Krol KM and Grossmann T. 2018.
• Liu N et al. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2022. 
• Moberg KU et al. PLoS One. 2020.
• WHO. 2009.

ARA, arachidonic acid; DHA, docosahexaenoic acid; LC-PUFA, long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids