E. Bimla Schwarz

E. Bimla Schwarz, a women’s health expert and scholar of evidence-based data, sheds new light on the maternal health benefits of breastfeeding.

“There is a simple and natural way to spare tens of thousands of women from having heart attacks each year… yet less than 8% of hospitals are fully promoting this approach.” — E. Bimla Schwarz

ABOUT BIMLA

Eleanor “Bimla” Schwarz is a model clinician, researcher, professor, and thought leader in women’s health. With training both in medicine and epidemiology, she is committed to seeing the big picture and religious about telling evidence-based stories when it comes to the well-being of women around the world. She has recently transitioned from her position as director of Women’s Health Services Research Unit at the University of Pittsburgh to Professor of Medicine at University of California Davis and Medical Director of the UCSF FamilyPACT Evaluation Contract. Bimla has served as a Senior Medical Expert in Reproductive Health for the US Department of Veterans Affairs and an Associate Editor of NEJM Journal Watch Women’s Health.

INTRIGUED? HERE'S MORE

Q&A with Bimla on the TEDMED Blog

Find your closest baby friendly hospital

A prospective population-based cohort study of lactation and cardiovascular disease mortality: the HUNT study
Natland Fagerhaug T, et al. BMC Public Health. 2013;13:1070.

Effect of lactation on maternal postpartum cardiac function and adiposity: a murine model
Poole AT, et al. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2014;211:424 e1-7.

Duration of lactation and incidence of maternal hypertension: a longitudinal cohort study
Stuebe AM, et al. Am J Epidemiol. 2011;174:1147-58.

Effects of an intervention to promote breastfeeding on maternal adiposity and blood pressure at 11.5 y postpartum: results from the Promotion of Breastfeeding Intervention Trial, a cluster-randomized controlled trial
Oken E, et al. Am J Clin Nutr. 2013;98:1048-56.

Breast-feeding and maternal risk of type 2 diabetes: a prospective study and meta-analysis
Jager S, et al. Diabetologia. 2014. Epub 2014/05/03.

Prolonged breast-feeding protects mothers from later-life obesity and related cardio-metabolic disorders
Wiklund P, et al. Public Health Nutr. 2012;15:67-74.

Relationship between lactation duration and insulin and glucose response among women with prior gestational diabetes
Chouinard-Castonguay S, et al. Eur J Endocrinol. 2013;168:515-23.

Parity, Lactation, and Breast Cancer Subtypes in African American Women: Results from the AMBER Consortium
Palmer JR, et al. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2014;106.

Breastfeeding and ovarian cancer risk: a meta-analysis of epidemiologic studies
Luan NN, et al. Am J Clin Nutr. 2013;98:1020-31.

In-hospital formula use increases early breastfeeding cessation among first-time mothers intending to exclusively breastfeed
Chantry CJ, et al. J Pediatr. 2014;164:1339-45.

Cost Analysis of Maternal Disease Associated With Suboptimal Breastfeeding
Bartick MC, et al. Obstet Gynecol. 2013;122:111-9.

Breast cancer and breastfeeding: collaborative reanalysis of individual data from 47 epidemiological studies in 30 countries, including 50302 women with breast cancer and 96973 women without the disease
Collaborative Group on Hormonal Factors in Breast Cancer. Lancet. 2002;360:187-95.

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