Breast milk is the best food for babies, packed with everything they need to grow strong and healthy. But breastfeeding isn’t just good for babies—it’s also great for moms! The longer a mother breastfeeds, the more benefits both she and her baby experience.¹ This guide explores how breastfeeding benefits both mom and baby, offering immediate rewards and long-lasting health advantages.

Health Benefits for Your Baby

Breast milk is more than just food—it’s a life-sustaining substance filled with essential nutrients and biological components that provide incredible benefits for your baby. Here’s how breastfeeding helps:

• Tailored Nutrition: Your body produces milk that is uniquely designed to meet your baby’s needs. The composition of your milk changes throughout the day and even during a single feeding, adjusting to your baby’s age, health, and developmental stage.² 
• Immune System Support: Through breastfeeding, your immune system passes vital antibodies to your baby. These antibodies protect your baby from infections and diseases, helping strengthen their immune system when it’s still developing.³
• Gut Health and Microbiome: Your milk is rich in human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs)—special sugars that feed the healthy bacteria in your baby’s gut. These sugars support a healthy microbiome, which will help them fight pathogens as they grow.⁴
• Hormonal Benefits: The hormones in breast milk help regulate important functions like your baby’s appetite, sleep cycles, and overall growth.
• Bonding and Stress Reduction: When your baby suckles, it triggers the release of oxytocin in both of you, which fosters bonding, reduces stress, and promotes calm and well-being. This connection is essential for emotional connection and health.
• Physical Development: Breastfeeding also supports your baby’s oral and facial development. The act of suckling from the breast strengthens muscles in the jaw and face, which can reduce the risk of dental issues later in life.

Breastfed babies have a lower risk of many diseases and conditions, including:⁵ 

Benefits for Mothers

Breastfeeding also provides many health benefits for you. Many of these benefits are linked to hormonal changes and the absence of menstrual cycles during breastfeeding, a condition called lactational amenorrhea.

• Decreased Risk of Postpartum Hemorrhage: Oxytocin released during breastfeeding helps your uterus contract and return to its pre-pregnancy size, reducing the risk of excessive blood loss after birth.¹
• Decreased Risk of Postpartum Depression: Breastfeeding boosts the production of oxytocin and prolactin, hormones that promote relaxation, bonding, and emotional stability, helping lower the likelihood and severity of postpartum depression.⁷
• Enhanced Bonding and Confidence: Breastfeeding strengthens the bond between you and your baby. The skin-to-skin contact during breastfeeding releases oxytocin, the “love hormone,” which enhances emotional connection.⁸
• Breastfeeding and Weight Loss: Breastfeeding naturally burns extra calories and can aid in gradual postpartum weight loss. Your body needs time to heal and recover, and enough calories to support a healthy milk supply, so we encourage you not to make this your primary focus after birth or try to lose weight too quickly. 
• Autoimmune Diseases: Studies suggest that breastfeeding lowers the likelihood of developing autoimmune conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis⁹ and endometriosis.¹⁰
• Type 2 Diabetes: Women who breastfeed have a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life, especially if they breastfeed for several months or more.
• Breast Cancer: Breastfeeding reduces the risk of breast cancer by 4.3% for every 12 months of breastfeeding, which is in addition to the 7.0% decrease in risk observed for each birth.¹¹
• Reproductive Cancers: Breastfeeding has been shown to reduce the risk of ovarian cancer. Breastfeeding for 1-3 months was associated with an 18% lower risk and breastfeeding for 12 or more months was associated with a 34% lower risk.¹²
• Heart Health: Breastfeeding can lower your risk of heart disease and high blood pressure. Research shows breastfeeding for 6 months or longer can reduce your risk of heart disease by up to 10%.¹³
• Bone Health: Breastfeeding has been shown to protect against osteoporosis (bone loss) later in life by stimulating bone-building hormones.¹⁴

The Longer You Breastfeed, the More Benefits You and Your Baby Receive

What If I Have Questions?

If you are interested in learning more, these Aeroflow classes expand on some of the topics discussed above:

• Ultimate Breastfeeding Prep
• Pumping 101

Want More Info?

For a directory of Aeroflow’s other Care Guides offering information on pregnancy, baby care, and more, browse our comprehensive list of titles:

References