Researchers have discovered that pregnancy brings special gifts to mothers. It’s not just newborns.
last month, New research published in Cell MetabolismA peer-reviewed scientific journal showed that scientists confirmed what previous studies have shown: pregnancy puts a strain on a woman’s body in terms of her biological age.
In other words, pregnancy accelerates aging.
But researchers also found that any acceleration can be significantly reversed postpartum.
The researchers tracked more than 100 women throughout their pregnancies and took blood samples to measure their biological age and other epigenetic markers. They found that the physiological stress of pregnancy accelerates biological age by several years.
However, when the same women were studied three months postpartum, researchers found a “significant reversal of biological aging,” according to the study.
“The decrease in maternal biological age from pregnant to non-pregnant status was approximately two to three times greater than the increase in biological age from early to late pregnancy,” the study said.
Dr. Kieran O’Donnell, an assistant professor at Yale University who helped conduct the study, said: explained:
We found that at 3 months postpartum, there was a significant and significant decrease in biological age, in some people by as much as 8 years. So, while pregnancy increases biological age, there is a clear (and significant) recovery postpartum.
Importantly, the researchers found that women who breastfed after giving birth experienced a greater reversal in biological age.
In contrast, high BMI had a negative effect on reversal. This means that women who already experience a slowdown in their metabolism won’t be able to take advantage of the fountain of youth that pregnancy brings.
Still, Professor O’Donnell said researchers did not know whether pregnancy had any effect. Net income in terms of biological age or whether a positive result reflects the body returning to its pre-pregnancy state.
“We do not know whether postpartum recovery effects are related to short-term or long-term maternal health status, or whether these effects accumulate over successive pregnancies,” she explained. “Similarly, whether the postpartum decrease in biological age is simply the system restoring itself to its pre-pregnancy biological age or, more provocatively, whether pregnancy has a rejuvenating effect? I don’t know either.”
Still, in a culture and era where women are delayed in becoming mothers, it’s good to remember that motherhood is natural, good, and healthy for women.
Do you like Blaze News? Avoid censorship and sign up for our newsletter to get articles like this delivered straight to your inbox. Register here!
