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A recently published study in the journal Cell Metabolism explains how pregnancy and childbirth may affect women’s biological age.
OUR biological age is not the one that corresponds to each of our birthdays, but reflects our physical health, which fluctuates according to life events. Among them are pregnancy and childbirth.
The impact of motherhood on biological age
Research conducted by correspondence between medical researchers at Yale, the University of California, and the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich, published March 22 in the journal Cell Metabolism and relayed by Le Monde, report the impact of pregnancy on biological aging, and that of breastfeeding on rejuvenation.
The scientists conducted a cohort study, collecting data from blood samples from 119 women in early, mid and late pregnancy. A fourth blood sample was also taken three months after delivery from 68 of these women.
Conclusion ? “Pregnancy is positively associated with biological aging”scientists say. According to the study, the biological age of pregnant women can increase by 0.7 years to 2.52 years. In the postpartum period, however, experts were able to observe an amplified reverse effect. Their work shows a decrease of 3 to 8 years between pregnancy and the months following childbirth. That is 2 to 3 times more than the increase in age observed during pregnancy.
Breastfeeding, a source of rejuvenation?
The researchers’ work also focused on the effects of breastfeeding on the mother. According to the scientists behind the study, “Mothers who reported exclusive breastfeeding had an average biological age of approximately 1 year younger” compared to mothers who opt for mixed feeding or formula feeding only for their infants.
In contrast, mothers with a BMI of 30 (moderate obesity) recorded a biological age 0.4 to 1.7 years higher than mothers with a BMI of 23.
However, experts insist that further work is needed to “to determine whether the reversal of maternal biological age observed three months after childbirth is maintained over time and whether these effects accumulate over successive pregnancies”they conclude.
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