People always talk about how “breast is best,” how it’s healthier for mom & baby but people usually only think about short term health benefits (i.e. breastfed babies get fewer ear infections than formula-fed ones) but less attention is paid to the long-term benefits. Even though I had breastfed my daughter for two years, I was surprised to learn during my lactation counselor training and deeply moved when I learned that breastfeeding your daughter reduces her risk of breast cancer by 25%. For me this was particularly poignant because MY mother lost HER mother to breast cancer when she was only six years old. Her entire life my mother has been extremely proactive about breast health, going for regular mammograms, doing self-exams, etc. because she’s very concerned about getting cancer. Not knowing about specific health benefits of breastfeeding, my mother nursed me for nearly 18 months. Nursing me is a lifelong gift she has given me that will significantly protect me from the same cancer that robbed her of her own mother.
What is particularly bittersweet is that my mother was not afforded this protection by her mother because she wasn’t breastfed (I’m not sure if it was because she had breast cancer at the time or if it was because most babies born in 1951 were not breastfeed). I hope that my mother is benefiting from the evidence that studies that show that women who breastfeed for a certain length of time are up to 11% less risk to breast cancer themselves. By breastfeeding my brother and me for over three years, she will receive some protection herself.
