With the swollen feet, extra pounds and aching back, there are plenty of not-so-fun side effects when you?re expecting. But did you know that there are many pregnancy perks that can benefit your long-term health" Let?s take a look at how.
Longer life

During pregnancy, a woman and her baby exchange a small number of cells via the placenta, and some of those fetal cells remain in her body, a phenomenon called microchimerism. (Microchimerism can also result from blood transfusions and transplants, and it can occur between fraternal twins.)
A 2014 Danish study published in the International Journal of Epidemiology suggests that male microchimerism?determined by the presence of Y chromosomes in a woman’s blood?is associated with a lower mortality rate in women. The study followed a group of 272 women and found that 85 percent of women with male microchimerism lived past the age of 80, compared to 67 percent of women without the presence of Y chromosomes. Although researchers don?t know why that is exactly, one theory suggests microchimerism increases the body?s ability to detect and destroy pathogens and cells that could become cancerous. Reduced breast cancer risk

Your risk of developing this disease is related to your exposure to hormones produced by ovaries (endogenous estrogen and progesterone). The longer the exposure, the higher the risk of developing breast cancer.
Since pregnancy and breastfeeding reduce a woman?s number of menstrual cycles over her l...