New Study Questions Recommended Gap Between Pregnancies

It might be unnecessary to give a minimum of two years between first and second pregnancy, suggests a new study by Curtin University. This finding has called into question a 15-year-old recommendation by the World Health Organization.

The report of a WHO Technical Consultation on Birth Spacing released in 2005 suggested spacing of at least 24 months to conceive after a previous birth.

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‘Adverse birth outcomes include preterm births, low birth weight, and neonatal birth. There are no significant differences between pregnancies with a gap of less than six months and pregnancies with a gap of 18-23 months.’

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The research team led by Dr.Tessema compared approximately 3 million births from 1.2 million women with at least three children. After an interpregnancy interval of less than six months, the adverse outcomes did not show greater differences compared to an interpregnancy interval of 18-23 months.

"However, we found siblings born after a greater than 60-month interval had an increased risk of adverse birth outcomes," said Dr. Tessema.

The study also suggests that a pregnancy gap of two years might be unnecessarily long for mothers in high-income countries such as Australia, Finland, Norway, and the United States.

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The team is now planning to identify whether intervals between pregnancies affect the risk of adverse birth outcomes among women of different ages.

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Source-Medindia