Women who breastfeed may be less likely to develop heart disease or stroke, a new meta-analysis has found.

They may also be less likely to die from cardiovascular disease.

Breastfeeding is known to confer a number of health benefits on children and is also linked to a number of health benefits in mothers, such as a reduced risk of some types of cancer.

The researchers noted that while previous studies have investigated the link between breastfeeding and the risk of cardiovascular disease in the mother, there were issues with these.

“The findings were inconsistent on the strength of the association and specifically the relationship between different durations of breastfeeding and cardiovascular disease risk. Therefore, it was important to systematically review the available literature and mathematically combine all of the evidence on this topic,” commented the meta-analysis’ senior author, Prof Peter Willeit, of the Medical University of Innsbruck in Austria.

The researchers reviewed eight studies conducted between 1986 and 2009 in the US, Australia, China, Japan and Norway, as well as one multinational study. These studies involved almost 1.2 million women who had an average age of 25 at the time of giving birth for the first time. Some 82% of these reported that they had breastfed at some time in their life.

“We collected information, for instance, on how long women had breastfed during their lifetime, the number of births, age at first birth and whether women had a heart attack or a stroke later in life or not,” explained the meta-analysis’ first author, Dr Lena Tschiderer, of the Medical University of Innsbruck.

The meta-analysis found that compared to women who had never breastfed, women who reported breastfeeding during their lifetime had an 11% decreased risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

Furthermore, women who breastfed for 12 months or longer during their lifetime appeared to be less likely to develop cardiovascular disease than women who did not breastfeed.

Overall, over an average follow-up period of 10 years, women who breastfed at some time in their lives were 14% less likely to develop coronary heart disease, 12% less likely to suffer strokes and 17% less likely to die from cardiovascular disease.

Meanwhile, the review found no notable differences in cardiovascular disease risk among women of different ages or according to the number of pregnancies.

“It’s important for women to be aware of the benefits of breastfeeding for their babies’ health and also their own personal health. Moreover, these findings from high-quality studies conducted around the world highlight the need to encourage and support breastfeeding, such as breastfeeding-friendly work environments and breastfeeding education and programmess for families before and after giving birth,” Prof Willeit said.

These findings are published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.