OncologyStudy: Breastfeeding May Reduce Likelihood Of Postpartum MS Attacks
Annette Langer-Gould, MD, PhD (Stanford University) and colleagues followed 32 pregnant women with MS, assessing their disease and breastfeeding status at intervals out to 12 months after giving birth. They found that women who breastfed their babies exclusively (without giving supplemental bottles) for at least the first two months post-partum were less likely to have an MS relapse than those who did not breastfeed or who did not breastfeed exclusively during the first two months (36% who breastfed exclusively experienced a relapse, as compared to 87% who did not breastfeed or who supplemented with formula).
This pilot study, funded largely by the National Institutes of Health, was presented at the 2009 American Academy of Neurology meeting and was published early online in the Archives of Neurology on June 8, 2009.
While the study is small, it focuses attention on a quandary facing women with MS and their doctors: the crucial time period after giving birth, when there is a higher risk for relapse, and many women are advised to go back on their disease-modifying therapies as soon as possible. Since there is insufficient evidence to support the safety of breastfeeding while using any of these therapies, most babies born to moms with MS are bottle fed, despite known health benefits of breastfeeding for infants. More research is needed to help guide postpartum treatment decisions.
Read more about pregnancy and reproductive issues in MS
National Multiple Sclerosis Society