Breastfeeding has long been associated with positive outcomes for children, such as better cognitive development, better bowel health and stronger immune systems. In the case of the mother, breastfeeding also protects against breast and ovarian cancer, and postpartum depression.
But a recent study has also shown that breastfeeding increases the mother's bond and sensitivity towards her son, even a decade after its completion.
A special bond that endures over the years
The study has been conducted jointly by the University of Boise and the University of Iowa and published by the American Psychological Association.
During ten years the behaviors of 1,272 mothers were studied recruited in 1991 in ten cities or / and different states of the United States. The first thing that was done was to conduct a personal interview at the home of each of them when their babies were only one month old.
Subsequently, and throughout a decade, mother and son were videotaped at different stages of their lives (interacting, playing, solving problems according to each age ...) and evaluated several times until the child turned 11 years old.
Of the 1,272 mothers who participated in the study, the 70% breastfed their children for a time that ranged from one week to two years, the average of this study being a total of 17 weeks of lactation.
The researchers sought to examine the relationship between duration of breastfeeding and mother's sensitivity with respect to her son throughout a decade, and it was seen that women who breastfed their babies for a longer time showed greater sensitivity and connection with their children, even ten years after breastfeeding had ended.
The study defines maternal sensitivity as the A mother's type of response to her child's needs:
the moment of said response,
your emotional tone,
flexibility in behavior
and its ability to read nonverbal cues.
"We were surprised to note that the duration of breastfeeding was intimately related to the development of greater maternal sensitivity over several years" - commented one of the authors of the study, Jennifer Weaver, of Boise University.
"Previous research suggested a connection between breastfeeding and early maternal tenderness, but until this last study we had not seen that the effects of breastfeeding continued long after it had ended "
Therefore, once again it is clear that breastfeeding not only positively influences the physical health of the child and the mother, but also in the psychological. And although the union between mother and baby is one of the benefits that have always been attributed to breastfeeding, this new finding would show that the affective bond is more lasting than previously thought
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Via Daily Mail
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