He's doing you a favor: Moms who breastfeed gain protection from heart disease.

RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—Countless studies have found that breastfed babies are healthier. Now a new study published in the medical journal Obstetrics and Gynecology shows that moms who breastfeed gain healthier hearts as well as healthy babies.

THE DETAILS: Using data from the long-running Women’s Health Initiative study, researchers examined the health status and duration of breastfeeding for 139,681 women who’d had children. They focused specifically on cardiovascular disease, obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, and high cholesterol, and found that breastfeeding had significant protective effects against all those conditions. Compared with women who’d never breastfed, those who’d done so for more than 12 months were 3.5 percent less likely to have high blood pressure, 1 percent less likely to get diabetes, 2.5 percent less likely to have high cholesterol or high triglyceride levels, and nearly 10 percent less likely to have cardiovascular disease. The researchers even saw a reduction in these diseases among women who’d breastfed for shorter periods of 7 to 12 months.

WHAT IT MEANS: Sticking to the American Academy of Pediatrics’ recommendation that mothers breastfeed for the first full year of a baby’s life may prolong yours. “The longer a woman breastfeeds, the more benefit there is to her heart,” says Eleanor Schwarz, MD, MS, assistant professor of medicine, epidemiology, obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive sciences at the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Research on Health Care. But as good a deal as this is for both baby and mom, the number of women following that recommendation should be higher than it is, says Dr. Schwarz. According to figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the proportion of mothers breastfeeding their babies for the full first year of their lives hovers around 20 percent. The problem isn’t that mothers aren’t willing, but that the marketing muscle of formula manufacturers and a lack of supportive work environments undermines the women’s good intentions.

Here are a few ways to resist anti-breastfeeding pressure:

• Find a baby-friendly hospital. UNICEF and the World Health Organization have banded together to create the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative, which recognizes hospitals that provide support and educational resources for mothers who want to breastfeed. Hospitals participating in the program don’t hand out free samples of baby formulas to mothers as they leave with a newborn. You can see a list of participating hospitals and birth centers at www.babyfriendlyusa.org.

• Consider the benefits. Formula offers convenience. What does breastfeeding offer? “Babies who are breastfed are less likely to die,” says Dr. Schwarz, “and that’s not just in developing countries.” Breast milk fights off hazardous infections, she says, as well as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Find out more about breastfeeding’s benefits, and ways to make the process easier, on Rodale.com’s breastfeeding topic page.

• Use facts to fight. If you work in an office that doesn’t provide new moms with privacy to pump breast milk, or otherwise make breastfeeding easier, confront management with the bigger economic picture: “moms who breastfeed have to take fewer sick days to nurse sick kids,” Dr. Schwarz says.