• Marian P Jarlenski, Wendy L Bennett, Sara N Bleich, Colleen L Barry, and Elizabeth A Stuart.
• Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, United States. Electronic address: mpj@pitt.edu.
• Prev Med. 2014 Dec 1; 69: 146-50.

ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of breastfeeding on maternal weight loss in the 12months postpartum among U.S. women.MethodsUsing data from a national cohort of U.S. women conducted in 2005-2007 (N=2102), we employed propensity scores to match women who breastfed exclusively and non-exclusive for at least three months to comparison women who had not breastfed or breastfed for less than three months. Outcomes included postpartum weight loss at 3, 6, 9, and 12months postpartum; and the probability of returning to pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) category and the probability of returning to pre-pregnancy weight.ResultsCompared to women who did not breastfeed or breastfed non-exclusively, exclusive breastfeeding for at least 3months resulted in 3.2 pound (95% CI: 1.4,4.7) greater weight loss at 12months postpartum, a 6.0-percentage-point increase (95% CI: 2.3,9.7) in the probability of returning to the same or lower BMI category postpartum; and a 6.1-percentage-point increase (95% CI: 1.0,11.3) in the probability of returning to pre-pregnancy weight or lower postpartum. Non-exclusive breastfeeding did not significantly affect any outcomes.ConclusionOur study provides evidence that exclusive breastfeeding for at least three months has a small effect on postpartum weight loss among U.S. women.Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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