With my delivery so close, I guess I have pregnancy on the brain 😉
But over the weekend, a friend was relaying to me what her OB/GYN had told her. He was discussing breast cancer, and explained that the fewer times a woman ovulates in her lifetime, the less her chances of developing breast cancer. (We’ve all heard similar findings, but I think it’s interesting to really think about this.)
Isn’t that interesting??? Kinda makes you think God does know what He’s doing after all, huh?
(Remember in the OT, when God gave instructions on when a man and woman were to resume intimate relations following menstruation? He said they were to refrain during her cycle (7 days), and another 7 days after that, which makes the likelihood of their coming back together pretty strong on the 14th day–the day she would most likely ovulate! I think He’s a big fan of having lots of babies.)
So I looked up a few things and found the doctor’s statement to line up with the current medical statistics. Below were a few facts I found interesting:
Some factors associated with pregnancy are known to reduce a woman’s chance of developing breast cancer later in life:
The younger a woman has her first child, the lower her risk of developing breast cancer during her lifetime.
A woman who has her first child after the age of 35 has approximately twice the risk of developing breast cancer as a woman who has a child before age 20.
A woman who has her first child around age 30 has approximately the same lifetime risk of developing breast cancer as a woman who has never given birth.
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/pregnancy
Here is another finding:
Having more than one child decreases a woman’s chances of developing breast cancer. In particular, having more than one child at a younger age decreases a woman’s chances of developing breast cancer during her lifetime.
Although not fully understood, research suggests that pre–eclampsia, a pathological condition that sometimes develops during pregnancy, is associated with a decrease in breast cancer risk in the offspring, and there is some evidence of a protective effect for the mother.
After pregnancy, breastfeeding for a long period of time (for example, a year or longer) further reduces breast cancer risk by a small amount.
This article went on to say the more pregnancies, the less the chance of developing cancer.
http://www.womenfitness.net/ovarian_cancer_inner.htm
And the general finding in several articles like these, was indeed, that the more times ovulation is suppressed (pregnancy), the better her chances of not developing ovarian or breast cancer.
The more I learn about the perfectness of God’s design, the more I’m baffled when forced to explain to those around me why I have chosen to let my body do what He created it to do! We serve an awesome Creator…let us glory in His omniscience!
9 comments
Thank you for this. I’m struggling and this is was just a little glimpse of god’s amazing grace.
I believe and praise God for his amazing design in ALL creation. I have to say though as I read this, it did make my stomach upset because I am 46 and never been pregnant. For some reason, God’s perfect reason…I have never been able to get pregnant. We have adopted 3 beautiful children. Our plan in the beginning of our marriage 20 years ago was to have at least 6 children. Well God had different plans. And I am having to run to God so many times to pray for contentment and appreciate and adore the gifts God has bestowed upon us. Ultimately God knows who will get cancer, who will get what illnesses, who will have great health, etc. So as much as I get nervous when I read things like this, I have to remember the Sovereign Grace of our Lord Jeses who knows all things. Our soul purpose for living is to Glorify God and enjoy Him forever!
Sorry for the spelling error…at the bottom of my comment. I did not run spell check before I sent it. Jeses should be Jesus.
I think this is interesting especially considering this Scripture:
But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.
—1 Timothy 2:15, NIV
Kellie,
I must apologize for forgetting another piece of information my friend’s dotor told her, regarding women who are infertile.
I don’t know if it’s the case in your situation, but often when a woman is unable to bear children, she also doesn’t ovulate as often, if at all.
The doctor pointed out that this was a built-in protection as well, as the evidence shows that the fewer times a woman ovulates, whether she bears children or not, the less her chances of developing cancer.
I hope this provides you comfort! And you are right…God is sovereign in every area of our health.
One very important thing to note is that this link between pregnancy and breast cancer is also a link between CARRYING A CHILD TO TERM and breast cancer. Your breasts don’t fully develop until you are capable of nursing a baby (i.e., you carry a child to term). In that immature state, they’re more prone to cancer. When a woman aborts her unborn child, her breasts are left in an intermediate state which actually leaves her _more_ susceptible to breast cancer than she would be if she had either not gotten pregnant or had carried the child to term.
So the younger you carry a child to term, the smaller your chances of getting breast cancer as well.
Looks like God designed us to not get abortions too. Go figure.
I’ve heard of that earlier too. Our Creator is just amazing isn’t He?
… And yes, of course there are women who will never bear children, according to His perfect plan; or get married later in life and have their first and only child at 35 – again, according to His plan. But the overall tendency of postponing marriage and childbirth, saying ‘there’s plenty of time to do this’ is troubling, in my opinion.
Hope you are feeling well today!
I appreciate the information, & I’ve heard the stats before. Sometimes it isn’t so simple. Many women are not in a position to have children or for some reason struggle with infertility. I don’t want to discourage these women that they are not following God’s plan for their lives by having as many babies as possible. Believe me, I would love to have had children before I was 30 but I was diagnosed with BC at age 25. It was shocking because it wasn’t in my family at all. At that point I wasn’t married and therefore was not having children anytime soon. Believe me- I would have loved to be in that boat. I want to have a large family someday. But I had only been in a relationship with my (future) husband for 6 months at the time I was diagnosed. God mercifully provided for me and taught me a lot during that time. My husband and I have been married for 2 years now and we are STILL waiting for the doctors to give us the okay to have children. Hopefully, we’ll only have about 2 years more to wait. Having children early may be correlated, but it’s no guarantee.
Let me say first of all that I am all for large families, being the youngest of five children.
And I am all for lowering your risk of breast cancer, as there is a strong history of the disease in my family.
Every woman should understand that extended nursing is key to lowering the breast cancer risk–not just pregnancy.
I think it’s only fair to mention as well that childbearing does seem to take a physical toll on women’s bodies in other ways.
I read an article about how childless women are massively overrepresented among women who live to be at least 100. That is to say, about 1 in 4 American women do not bear children, but among women who live to be at least 100, the proportion of childless women is much, much higher.
A woman I know from high school is a physician in Dubuque, Iowa. Dubuque has a large number of nuns and retired nuns. This doctor told me that I would simply not believe how many of these nuns lived well into their 90s. Of course, it probably helps that the nuns live moderately (not heavy drinking or other unhealthy habits).
None of this put me off having my own kids–I wouldn’t trade them for anything, not even a guarantee that I could live to be 100.
But let’s not assume that just because childbearing lowers the risk of breast cancer that it also lowers the risk of other health issues for women.
Laurie B