A study carried out in the US aimed to examine the association between breastfeeding intensity and maternal blood glucose and insulin and glucose intolerance at 6–9 weeks after a pregnancy with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).
A total of 522 participants enrolled into the Study of Women, Infant Feeding, and Type 2 Diabetes (SWIFT), a prospective observational cohort study of women diagnosed with GDM and were classified as normal, pre-diabetes, or diabetes according to American Diabetes Association criteria.
The researchers found that compared with exclusive or mostly formula feeding (>17oz formula per 24 hours), exclusive breastfeeding and mostly breastfeeding (≤6oz formula per 24 hours) groups, respectively, had lower adjusted mean group differences in fasting plasma glucose, in fasting insulin and in 2-h insulin. Exclusive or mostly breastfeeding groups had lower prevalence of diabetes or pre-diabetes (P = 0.02).
The authors conclude that higher intensity of lactation was associated with improved fasting glucose and lower insulin levels at 6–9 weeks’ postpartum and argue that lactation may have favourable effects on glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity that may reduce diabetes risk after GDM pregnancy.
Gunderson EP, Hedderson MM, Chiang V et al (2011) Lactation Intensity and Postpartum Maternal Glucose Tolerance and Insulin Resistance in Women With Recent GDM: The SWIFT cohort. Diabetes Care. Published 19 October 2011, 10.2337/dc11-1409
