Moms Who Breastfeed for More Than 5 Months Have More Kids According to Study
Find out why this is the case!
tatyana_tomsickova
There are so many benefits of breastfeeding for both mom and baby. For nursing moms there's a reduced risk of heart disease, ovarian and breast cancer, and osteoporosis. For your little one, that breastmilk is pretty magical and will change and adapt based on the needs of your baby. Truly--breastmilk is amazing. So once you get the hang of breastfeeding, it's no wonder moms are willing to have more kids--maybe even three or more. So do breastfeeding moms have more kids? One study says yes.
According to a new study from Cornell University Sociology professors, women who breastfeed their first child for five or more months have more children and have higher odds of having three or more children rather than two kids, compared with women who breastfeed for shorter durations or not at all. So if a woman breastfeeds her firstborn for more than five months, there's a good chance she will end up with three or more kids.
So how did researchers come up with this info? Using the data of roughly 3,700 women from the late 1970s to 2012, researchers found that women who breastfed longer "did not differ significantly from other breastfeeding women in their early fertility expectations." Researchers said that many of the women who nursed their firstborn for more than five months actually increased the number of children they originally wanted. So if they told researchers they only wanted two kids, many of the women ended up having larger families.
Researchers say this study doesn't prove that breastfeeding leads to more babies. "Instead, we think that the same factors that helped them to succeed in breastfeeding in the first place are also likely to help them to have larger families," the study claims. In addition to having successful breastfeeding experiences, spousal support, and flexible work options both help new mothers breastfeed for longer and in the end, help them decide to have larger families.
More kids means a busier mom! So check out these Busy Mom Life Hacks for a few tips and tricks.
