Moms With IBD: Breastfeeding May Lower Your Risk Of Symptoms

Researchers have discovered that breastfeeding is not associated with an increased risk of disease flares and may actually protect against an symptoms in moms with inflammatory bowel disease

In the American Journal of Gastroenterology, Dr. Dana Moffatt, from the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada, states, "Breastfeeding has been shown to have many beneficial effects on child health and development, and as a result it is recommended as the primary form of nutrition for at least the first 24 weeks of an infant's life." Interestingly, results of a prior study suggested that women with inflammatory bowel disease are less likely to breastfeed than other women. It also showed that breastfeeding among women with ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease is associated with an increased risk of symptom flare-ups.

The team of researchers set out to prove the previous study wrong. They examined breastfeeding rates in women with inflammatory bowel disease, and the association of breastfeeding with symptom flares by studying 132 women with ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease who had previously given birth and completed a breastfeeding questionnaire. They found that 82% of the participants with Crohn's disease and 84% of those with ulcerative colitis had initiated breastfeeding. The authors of the study pointed out that these numbers are larger than the 77% of women in the general population who breastfeed.

Twenty six percent of those who breastfed their babies experienced a symptom flare within 1 year of giving birth, compared with 29% of those who did not breastfeed their babies. It is important to note that the risk of symptom flares was not related to age at pregnancy, duration of disease, or socioeconomic status.

Dr. Moffat's team concludes that "this study provides reassurance to women and their physicians that breastfeeding in the setting of inflammatory bowel disease is feasible, successful and possibly protective with respect to disease activity in the postpartum year."