Breastfeeding Improves Mother’s Cognitive Abilities — Years Later

Andy Hab
2 min readNov 8, 2021
Photo 26534026 / Breast Feeding © Oksun70 | Dreamstime.com

So are you saying that breast feeding is not only good for the infant but also the mother?!
Yes, we’ve know for a long, long time that breastfeeding is very good for the infant. Over the years and with more research new ways in which this are beneficial have been regularly found.

And what did this research show?
Molly Fox et al. at the University of California collected data from two population cohorts and this included 115 women of which 64 were classed as depressed and 41 as not.

More women who breastfed were non-depressed than depressed suggesting a link between breastfeeding and depression.

Oh wow and what about cognitive abilities?
Well, this is where it becomes interesting. Four cognitive tests were used to measure learning, delayed recall, executive functioning and processing. And these were all better, on average in those who had breastfed. But what is more interesting is that there is a positive correlation between how long they breastfed and these abilities!

So the more they breastfed the better their abilities?
Precisely!

And how old were these women?
They were all over 50! This suggests that not only is breastfeeding…

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Andy Hab

Sharing fascinating, fun, and important knowledge on the brain and human behaviour - most days. And masters track athlete - still going strong!