Breastfeeding may lower a mother’s chance of having mental health problems after giving birth, according to a recent study presented at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine 2026 Pregnancy Meeting, held February 8–13 in Las Vegas.
This is also relevant for mothers with infants affected by fetal and neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (FNAIT), as long as the infant is well enough to breastfeed. It is rare for maternal antibodies to be transmitted to the baby through breast milk.
To learn whether feeding choices were linked to the mother’s mental health after childbirth, the researchers studied health data from a large national database in Korea. The study included 190,992 women who gave birth between 2017 and 2020. The researchers looked at medical records to see which mothers were later diagnosed with depression, anxiety or stress-related disorders within six months after giving birth. They also checked survey information about how each mother fed her baby.
The women were divided into three groups: exclusive breastfeeding, mixed feeding, and formula feeding. About 24.8% of mothers only breastfed, 27.3% used both breast milk and formula, and 47.9% used only formula.
Formula feeding means the baby drinks infant formula. Mixed feeding means the baby drinks both breast milk and infant formula.
The researchers found that mothers who breastfed had a lower risk of postpartum mental health disorders than mothers who used only formula. Mothers who practiced mixed feeding also had a lower risk, although the benefit was slightly smaller than with exclusive breastfeeding.
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The researchers concluded that breastfeeding, even when combined with formula, may help protect mothers’ mental health after childbirth.
“Future efforts should focus on developing and implementing strategies to support and encourage breastfeeding among postpartum women as a potential means to improve maternal psychological outcomes,” the authors wrote.
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