In a recent study published in the journal, PLoS One, women who had delivered big
babies, which in this study meant babies bigger than 8 ¼ pounds (not that big,
really), had a higher risk of breast cancer than women who delivered smaller
babies.
And this was not a small, hardly noticeable risk but
rather the risk was up to 2 ½ times higher, making this factor – the delivery
of a big baby – an important indicator for breast cancer screening.
In fact, it would be a good idea for women who have
delivered such big babies to do the other things we know that might reduce
their risk of breast cancer, namely participating in regular exercise and
watching their overall alcohol intake.
And at the very least women who have delivered these
larger babies should stay on top of their breast cancer screening with regular
mammograms.
