PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT
Eleanor Bimla Schwarz, MD, MS
University of Pittsburgh
(412) 692-4888(phone)
(412) 555-0876(fax)
schwarzeb@upmc.edu
http://www.upmc.com

Breastfeeding Proves to Largely Decreased Risk of Type-2 Diabetes for Mother

California, September 2010 – It was recently found, from a population study in California,
that mothers that breastfed their babies for at least one month were at a greatly decreased
risk of suffering from Type-2 Diabetes in their life, as opposed to women who did not
breastfeed.

This discovery was made by surveying over 2,000 women about their breastfeeding history
and then evaluating their current health and their current risk for Type-2 Diabetes. It turns
out that lactation and its effect in helping women lose their abdomen fat gained during
pregnancy, has lasting benefits in that it made women less likely to gain abdomen weight
later on in life. It is known that abdomen fat specifically contributes to Type-2 Diabetes risk.

Overall, scientist and doctors alike are hoping that studies like this will encourage women to
breastfeed their infants, which is currently the minority choice. In the study publication in
The American Journal of Medicine, Dr. Schwarz says, “While breastfeeding is widely
acknowledged to benefit infant health, and the American Academy of Pediatrics
recommends that mothers exclusively breastfeed their infants for the first 6 months, in
2006, only 14% of US mothers were able to follow this recommendation.”

The main points outlined in the study were:

 Mothers who do not breastfeed their infants are at increased risk of developing Type-
2 Diabetes.
 Consideration of women’s pregnancy and lactation history may allow more accurate
assessments of women’s risk of developing Type-2 Diabetes.
 When providing preconception and post- partum counseling, internists should
encourage breastfeeding for the health of the mother as well as the infant.

There are more and more studies published that represent not only the importance of
breastfeeding, but also the benefits for both infant and mother alike.

Dr. Eleanor Schwarz is currently practicing medicine with the University of Pittsburgh
Physicians. She practices with the Division of General Internal Medicine. She was medically
educated in California where the study was performed at University of California, San
Fransisco. There were other scientists involved in this study including: Jeanette S. Brown,
Jennifer M. Creasman, Alison Stuebe, Candace K. McClure, Stephen K. Van Den Eeden, and
David Thom.

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 Works Cited

Schwarz, Eleanor B., Jeanette S. Brown, Jennifer M. Creasman, Alison Stuebe,

Candace K. McClure, Stephen K. Van Den Eeden, and David Thom. "Lactation

and Maternal Risk of Type 2 Diabetes: A Population-based Study." The

American Journal of Medicine 123 (2010). Print.