Breastfeeding May Lessen Multiple Sclerosis Relapse

A new study, supported by the National Institutes of Health and the Wadsworth Foundation, suggests that women who have multiple sclerosis may reduce their risk of relapses if they breastfeed their babies.

Researchers followed 61 pregnant women (32 with MS and 29 without) through their entire period of gestation and up to a year after they delivered. The women were interviewed at length about their breastfeeding and menstrual period history. Fifty-two percent of those with MS did not breastfeed or started formula feedings within two months of giving birth. Of that group, 87 percent had a relapse after pregnancy compared to 36 percent who breastfed exclusively for at least two months after pregnancy.

But there is logic in why many women with MS do not choose to breastfeed exclusively: Sixty percent of the women reported their main reason was to start taking their MS medications again. At the same time, women who started taking them within the first two months after giving birth had a much higher risk of relapse than women with MS who did not start taking medications early, whether or not they breastfed. Those who breastfed exclusively got their menstrual periods back later than the women who did not breastfeed.

One of the study's authors from Stanford University and a member of the American Academy of Neurology, Annette Langer-Gould, MD, PhD, states, “Our findings call into question the benefit of choosing not to breastfeed or stopping breastfeeding early in order to start taking MS therapies. Larger studies need to be done on whether women should delay taking MS medications in order to breastfeed.”