Check out the benefits of breastfeeding for the health of postpartum mothers
KONTAN.CO.ID – Breastfeeding is an important activity for both mother and baby. This is one of the natural processes that the mother and baby will go through. For babies, breastfeeding is an instinct to meet nutritional needs.
However, it turns out that breastfeeding not only has health benefits for the baby but also for the mother. These health benefits cannot be separated from the process of producing breast milk (ASI).
Summarizing from Healthline and Web MD, here are some important benefits of breastfeeding for mothers.
Also Read: Guide to safe breastfeeding during the Corona pandemic from UNICEF
1. Lose weight
When you are 9 months pregnant, the mother will gain weight. Often times, during childbirth, your body weight doesn’t immediately return to normal.
Breastfeeding is one way to help mothers lose weight. This is related to the calories burned by mothers who breastfeed their babies.
Even so, not all breastfeeding mothers experience weight loss. In fact, some mothers may experience weight gain.
The reason why this happens is the very different hormonal balance of the body. Several studies have shown that in the first 3 months, breastfeeding mothers may have a little more difficulty losing weight or even increasing.
However, after the third month of breastfeeding, the mother will usually experience increased fat burning which causes her to lose more weight than non-breastfeeding mothers.
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2. Help the uterus return to its original size
During pregnancy, the uterus grows very rapidly from the size of a pear to fill the entire space in the abdomen.
After giving birth, the uterus will undergo an involution process that helps it return to its original size. This process is much influenced by the hormone oxytocin.
Breastfeeding itself has the effect of increasing oxytocin in the blood. This then drives the uterus to involution more rapidly.