New research shows breast milk not nearly as important as originally thought

January 6, 2010 by Shawn Douglas  
Filed under: Baby Health, News, Pregnancy

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New research out of Norway finds that the association between breast milk and baby health is not as strong as originally thought.

The general medical consensus over the last few decades has been that a breastfeeding baby is healthier than a bottle-fed baby. However, researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) say that correlation isn’t necessarily true.

The research team, based out of NTNU’s Department of Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine, focused on the data and results of over fifty international medical studies performed to find relationships between baby health and breastfeeding.

After a thorough analysis, the team found little correlation between babies that were breastfed and their future health. Rather, they found that the prevalence of male hormones (known as androgens) in the bodies of pregnant women had a direct impact on how much those women breastfed after giving birth.

“Pregnant women who have higher levels of androgens breastfeed less,” said head researcher, Dr. Sven M. Carlsen. “Probably, this is a direct effect of hormones that simply limit nursing ability by reducing milk production in the breast.”

Dr. Carlsen and his team have been researching how hormones affect pregnant women and their babies for years. During that time, the researchers have compiled a list of risk factors that likely affect a woman’s ability to breastfeed. Women who are obese, smoke, or suffer from the hormonal disorder polycystic ovary syndrome have been shown to breastfeed less. And they all have higher levels of male hormone in their body while pregnant.

“It’s thus not the woman’s will to breastfeed,” said Dr. Carlsen. “Women who had more testosterone in their bodies during pregnancy feel the effects of a hormone that limits breastfeeding. That is clearly why it is not as easy to breastfeed.”

The researchers began to see patterns in the data, and they drew the conclusion that the placenta is more relevant to a baby’s health than breastfeeding.

Carlsen explained that during a normal pregnancy, hormones from the fetus are sent to the placenta, where they are converted into testosterone and estrogen. This conversion requires significant energy, and if there isn’t enough energy available to convert testosterone into estrogen, an overabundance of male hormone is free to affect both mother and child.

In the mother’s case, this extra male hormone reduces the growth of glandular tissue in the breast and in turn reduces the breast’s ability to create milk. In the child’s case, the extra testosterone may lead to an increased risk of obesity, diabetes and, in the case of girls, polycystic ovary syndrome.

“We find it very interesting that almost all of the factors previously shown to be associated with breastfeeding can be explained by changes in testosterone levels in the mother during pregnancy,” said Dr. Carlsen.

“There are many good reasons to breastfeed. But concern for the child’s health is not one of them. There is no reason why women who are struggling to breastfeed should have to go around feeling guilty, or think that they are giving their child a poor start in life if they can’t nurse. Baby formula is as good as breast milk.”

The research is published in January’s edition of the journal Acta Obstestricia and Gynecologia Scandinavica.

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