2007 brought more studies, more reasons to breastfeed.

Like last year, I'm taking a look back at the year's breastfeeding research.  As always, there is yet more evidence of the importance of breastfeeding in protecting the health of mothers and babies.

The big news in breastfeeding research was a giant federal study which looked at over 9,000 breastfeeding related studies from developed countries and quantified the "risk reduction" associated with breastfeeding.  A few of their conclusions:  breastfeeding reduces the risk of SIDS by 36 percent, and reduces your risk of breast cancer by 28%.

In addition, research showed this year that, for babies, breastfeeding:

• Reduces your baby's risk of heart disease in adulthood
• Doesn't cause dental caries
• Helps your baby sleep better
• Reduces your child's risk of sleep apnea and other sleep disordered breathing
• Protects children from obesity
• Develops your baby's vision
• Reduces your baby's risk of Type II diabetes later in life
• Helps babies develop a taste for vegetables
• Reduces allergy risk
• Makes your baby smarter (if they have the right genes?)

Research from this year also showed that, for mothers, breastfeeding:

• Reduces your risk of rheumatoid arthritis
• Doesn't cause your breasts to sag
• Reduces breast cancer risk for "older" mothers (over 25, ahem)
• Reduces your risk of heart attack
• Helps you keep weight off
• Maintains your insulin and cholesterol levels
• Is considered a top ten way preventing cancer (recommendation, not a study)

And a few more studies revealed new information on breastfeeding:

• Drinking organic milk while pregnant and nursing may reduce the risk of allergies
• Newborns show the same rooting behaviors when fathers hold them skin to skin
• Smoking while breastfeeding makes your baby sleep less
• Kangaroo care for full term babies helps them self attach, yields better vital signs

I'm creating a new category for silly breastfeeding research this year.  According to these studies, breastfeeding:

• Is an aphrodisiac - the smell of it, that is
• Reduces your child's risk of excema - if you laugh first
• Causes upward social mobility - a tad far fetched, don't you think?

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