Breastfeeding, in addition to being a beautiful and natural act, is the best we can give our baby, as several studies have shown that it provides benefits for mothers and children. One of them is that breastfeeding could protect the baby from sudden death syndrome, however, there was no talk of how long it should take to get this benefit.
Now a recent study complements those investigations, as it was found that breastfeeding our babies for at least two months would help reduce the chance of having sudden death in half.
Formed by a team of researchers from the United States, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, the results of the study, led by the University of Virginia, were published in the journal Pediatrics. Through a press release on the University's website, Kawai Tanabe, one of the study's authors comments on the following:
These results are very powerful! Our study found that Babies who were breastfed for at least two months had a significant reduction in the risk of dying from sudden infant death syndrome. Breastfeeding is beneficial for many reasons, and this is a really important
To reach this conclusion, they analyzed data from eight control studies on sudden death that included data on breastfeeding. In total, 2,259 cases of sudden death and 6,894 babies who did not die from this syndrome were included. After making the necessary adjustments to measure the variables that could have an impact on the results, they determined that breastfeeding for at least two months reduced the risk of sudden death by half, while doing so for less than two months did not.
Now, this does not mean that not breastfeeding for at least two months does not provide benefits for the baby. They even found that any amount of time breastfeeding can be beneficial and also helps protect against sudden death, however, It is clear that the longer breastfeeding lasts, the greater the benefits and protection we can give the baby.
Rachel Moon, one of the study authors and researcher at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, says that knowing this important benefit is great for mothers, and that they support all national and international efforts to promote breastfeeding. .
No doubt this is good news, although researchers comment that It is still unclear with certainty why breastfeeding helps protect against sudden death. Some believe that this may be due to the benefits it brings to the immune system and the effects it has on the baby's sleep patterns.
But although the latter is still a pending issue, no doubt the promote, support and practice breastfeeding, it is very important.
