Long term health effects

For breastfeeding women, long-term health benefits include:

• Less risk of breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and endometrial cancer.
• A 2009 study indicated that lactation for at least 24 months is associated with a 23% lower risk of coronary heart disease.
• Although the 2007 review for the AHRQ found "no relationship between a history of lactation and the risk of osteoporosis",mothers who breastfeed longer than eight months benefit from bone re-mineralisation.
• Breastfeeding diabetic mothers require less insulin
• Reduced risk of metabolic syndrome
• Reduced risk of post-partum bleeding.
• According to a Malmö University study published in 2009, women who breast fed for a longer duration have a lower risk for contracting rheumatoid arthritis than women who breast fed for a shorter duration or who had never breast fed.