A new study just revealed that women have a higher risk of breast cancer right after giving birth, compared to women who don’t give birth.
The new study from the University of North Carolina reports that the risk rises and then falls over time, peaking about five years after giving birth.
Allina Health Surgical Oncologist, Dr. Annie Callahan, said the changes in risk are small.
“Any young woman who has just had a baby doesn’t want to worry about breast cancer. It’s the last thing on their mind,” she told Fox News.
“We don’t completely understand what causes it. I don’t think that this should change anything in how people are screened, but if it helps to increase the awareness and increase the thinking about that possibility, then it’s done some good,” Callahan said.
According to the study, which only examined young women under the age of 55, the higher risk lasts for 24 years after having a baby. After that, it switches to a lower risk, reaching the lowest point after 34 years after giving birth.
“If a woman has recently had a baby has a mass in their breast or a finding on their breast that doesn’t go away, even though they may still be breastfeeding, or there still might be changes in their breast, they should have that evaluated and not assume it’s just due to breastfeeding,” she said.
The study’s conclusion said that health care providers should consider recent childbirth as a risk factor for breast cancer in young women.
The risks were greater for women who were older at the time of giving birth, or who had more childbirths.
The American Cancer Society recommends women with average risk begin annual mammograms at age 40.
“This certainly should not be used to make any decisions about childbirth or timing of childbirth because that’s an intensely personal decision that is made by everybody at their own time, and breast cancer risk shouldn’t ever be something that fits into that,” Callahan said.
