Pregnancy Spacing: Here's Why You Should Wait Longer Before Having Another Child

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Moms are having kids that are too close together in age, according to a government study in the U.S.

Experts recommend that mothers wait at least 18 months, or a year and a half, after giving birth before having another child. This is to give time for their bodies to recover which improves the chances of a healthy and full-term baby, reported WebMD.com.

The study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 30% of mothers failed to follow this recommendation. This is the first study of pregnancy spacing, thus there are no comparisons of how these statistics have changed over time.

Data was collected from 2011 birth certificates from 36 states in the U.S. This would account for 83% of the total births for that year.

They found that half of the women had their next pregnancy within 18 months to five years. 20% spaced their children more than 5 years apart and 30% had theirs less than 18 months apart. They also found out that older women tended to have a longer time gap between pregnancies.

In a SmartParenting.com.ph article, OB-Gyn Dra. Maricar Meollo-Mateo says there are birth control methods that people can do naturally to help prevent an unintended pregnancy.  “These methods often do not cost anything and usually have no side effects,” she adds.


Sources:
April 16, 2015. “One-Third of Moms Have Kids Too Close Together”. webmd.com
April 16, 2015. “Many U.S. moms have babies too close together”. cbsnews.com