Depression in mums cut by breastfeeding

BREASTFEEDING may protect mothers against depression in later life.

An international study found that women who fed their babies naturally were almost two-thirds less likely to suffer from mental health problems.

And the more children they had, the greater the effect was.

The joint US and Korean study looked at more than 1,200 mothers now in their 50s and older, who had gone through the menopause.

The World Health Organisation recommends exclusively breastfeeding during the first six months of the baby’s life, but only a third of British mothers try it at all, and the figures are falling. Reduced government support, cuts in public health funding, and negative attitudes have been blamed for some of the worst breastfeeding rates in the world.

And the report in the Journal of Affective Disorders even supports mothers who controversially breastfeed their children up to school age and beyond.

Yesterday, lead author Dr Sangshin Park, of Brown University, America, said: ‘Our study findings indicate that breastfeeding is beneficial, not only to infants’ short-term and long-term health, but also to maternal psychological health.’