When people think of breastfeeding, they often think of the baby’s health. Rightfully so –breastfeeding has proven benefits for babies. But that is only part of the story. Breastfeeding is a major feature in the story of a mother’s health. This World Breastfeeding Week, the Partnership for Women’s Wellness is shining a light on how breastfeeding can preserve women’s long-term health and what systems can do to support them.

Breastfeeding as a Prevention Opportunity 

The postpartum period is one of the clearest prevention windows in a woman’s life. Breastfeeding is associated with a lowered lifetime risk of noncommunicable diseases that account for the largest share of deaths among women worldwide: cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and breast cancer. These are conditions where prevention and early detection can change the course of treatment and, ultimately, outcomes. 

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death among women, and women who have breastfed show a 11-17% lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease and stroke. The longer a woman breastfeeds, the larger the benefit appears to be. A similar pattern holds for type 2 diabetes, including among women who experienced gestational diabetes. 

Breastfeeding is also linked to lower risk of breast cancer. Researchers point to two likely mechanisms: reduced lifetime exposure to cancer-related hormones, and the shedding of breast cells carrying DNA damage.  

Building Systems that Support Women 

Many women who want to breastfeed are unable to, often because of barriers outside their control: no paid leave, a workplace without accommodations, limited access to lactation support or postpartum care that ends too soon. For the mothers who choose to breastfeed, health systems and policies must be in place to support them.

That begins with awareness and education. Many women are never told that breastfeeding may carry benefits for their own long-term health. Public awareness efforts and provider education can help close that gap, framing breastfeeding as part of a woman’s lifelong health rather than a decision that matters only in the weeks after birth. 

It also requires policies that break down the barriers women face. Paid leave, workplace accommodations and access to lactation support largely determine whether breastfeeding is realistic. Policymakers and employers can address those limitations so that a woman’s ability to breastfeed is not hindered by her job, her income or where she lives. 

Finally, early intervention plays a major. Difficulties tend to surface in the first weeks of postpartum. Timely clinical guidance and consistent postpartum follow-up can help women continue if they wish to and can connect them to the screening and early-stage treatment that shape their health for decades to come.

Supporting women to breastfeed is part of a broader effort to prioritize prevention, screening and early-stage treatment in women’s health. This World Breastfeeding Week, the Partnership for Women’s Wellness urges policymakers, providers and employers to invest in system-wide solutions to ensure women’s wellness is treated as a priority rather than an afterthought.