Breastfeeding Cuts The Risk Of Painful Menstruation

Scientists have affirmed that breastfeeding reduces the risk of endometriosis by up to 40 per cent. According to the findings of a study published in ‘The British Medical Journal’ (BMJ), breastfeeding for a total of three or more years across a women’s life reduces her risk of developing endometriosis by nearly 40 per cent.
About 70 per cent of people with endometriosis experience painful menstruation while nearly half of them have chronic pelvic pain. Similarly, in endometriosis, pain during sex is also common and infertility occurs in up to half of women affected.
Endometriosis is a condition in which the layer of tissue that normally covers the inside of the uterus, grows outside it, most often this is on the ovaries, fallopian tubes, and tissue around the uterus and ovaries and in rare cases, also occur in other parts of the body. According to the study, for every three additional months a woman breastfeeds, per pregnancy, her risk of getting endometriosis is lowered by eight per cent, while exclusively feeding naturally decreases the chance of a diagnosis by 14 per cent.

This is thought to be due to hormonal changes that occur during breastfeeding as women temporarily stop having periods. Natural feeding also alters the release of certain hormones, such as oxytocin and estrogen, which may determine a woman’s risk of the disorder.
The researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, United States (U.S) analysed 72,394 women, who had one or more pregnancy that lasted at least six months. The study’s participants were followed for more than 20 years.
During that time, 3,296 of the participants were diagnosed with endometriosis after their first pregnancy. Results revealed the risk of endometriosis reduces by eight per cent for every additional three months a woman spends breastfeeding per pregnancy.
For those who exclusively breastfeed, the risk is lowered by 14 per cent, the study shows. Although, endometriosis is a common condition among Nigerian women, many who suffer it miss out on early diagnosis, therefore exposing them to painful menstrual pain and infertility for several years.