April 22, 2026
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Women who have at least three children may have a reduced risk of stroke and brain damage, new research shows.
Mothers sometimes may joke that their children are doing their heads in, but a new study suggests the opposite may be true.
Researchers found that women who have at least three children may have a reduced risk of stroke and brain damage. Women are disproportionately affected by stroke, and the new study, published by the American Heart Association, may add another piece to the puzzle to help explain why.
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"Our findings would suggest that reproductive factors – for example, number of live births – may be an additional factor to consider when assessing stroke risk in women," Dr. Sudha Seshadri, the study's lead author and director of the Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer's and Neurodegenerative Diseases at UT Health San Antonio, said in a news release.
Strokes occur when there is reduced blood flow to the brain or when a blood vessel in the brain bursts, causing hemorrhaging, the Mayo Clinic says.
About 1 in 5 women have strokes during their lifetimes. Strokes are the third most common cause of death in women – and more women die of strokes than men, the American Stroke Association says.
To get a better understanding of how reproductive factors may be implicated in the higher risk of stroke for women, the researchers followed more than 1,800 older women who were stroke free at the start of the study, between 1998 and 2001. After approximately 18 years, the scientists assessed the women for stroke and vascular damage resulting from reduced blood flow to the brain.
Among the women included in the study, 126 had strokes. Women who had had three or more "live births" – infants that had at least one sign of life after birth, no matter how premature or how long they lived – had a lower risk of stroke. Women who had more children also were at lower risk of cognitive impairment from reduced blood flow to the brain.
The research may help improve methods of predicting strokes in women but needs further study, the researchers said.
