What age gap is best between babies?
When to have another child is a personal choice and sometimes not entirely within our control! Women starting their families well into their thirties may not have the luxury of choosing wider spacing as diminishing fertility becomes a factor.
Health-wise it is better to recover from one pregnancy and childbirth before embarking on the next for your and your baby's sake, especially if your iron levels are low. A review of many studies in this area has shown a significantly higher risk of prematurity, low birth weight, and being small for gestational age in babies conceived within six months, compared to babies conceived within 18 to 23 months, of a previous birth.
These risks were still evident for babies conceived within seven to 17 months of the previous birth, albeit to a lesser extent than those conceived within six months. If you aim for an 18-23 month gap between pregnancies you'll have time to recover your energies and replenish your body's resources.
A smaller gap between babies gets the hard work over with more quickly but the expenses come closer together and there may be more arguing later as the children's interests overlap. While, larger gaps give you the opportunity to enjoy each child as an individual and to give them your undivided attention for the first few years. It also means you can spread the cost of having children over a longer period of time.
However, children who are very widely spaced may grow up less close to one another. Sometimes there is resentment from the older child who feels his position has been usurped by a new arrival.
Also, the risks of the same birth complications seen with a very small gap between pregnancies kick in for much larger gaps too. The review above found that gaps of 59 months (about five years) or more between pregnancies were also associated with a significantly increased risk of premature delivery , low birth weight and small for gestational age.
In general, it is sensible to wait at least six months to a year before trying to conceive again in order to give your next baby a healthier start to life. Other than that, there don't appear to be any major disadvantages associated with having your babies close together, although it may be more emotionally and financially demanding in the short term. The key question is "Are you ready to have another baby?"
Reviewed by Dr Ashwini Nabar, BabyCenter India's expert obstetrician and gynaecologist.
Read more on:
King JC. 2003. The risk of maternal nutritional depletion and poor outcomes increases in early or closely spaced pregnancies. J Nutr. 133(5 Suppl 2):1732S-36S.
Winkvist A, Rasmussen KM, Habicht J-P. 1992. A new definition of maternal depletion syndrome. Am J Public Health. 82:691-694.
Health-wise it is better to recover from one pregnancy and childbirth before embarking on the next for your and your baby's sake, especially if your iron levels are low. A review of many studies in this area has shown a significantly higher risk of prematurity, low birth weight, and being small for gestational age in babies conceived within six months, compared to babies conceived within 18 to 23 months, of a previous birth.
These risks were still evident for babies conceived within seven to 17 months of the previous birth, albeit to a lesser extent than those conceived within six months. If you aim for an 18-23 month gap between pregnancies you'll have time to recover your energies and replenish your body's resources.
A smaller gap between babies gets the hard work over with more quickly but the expenses come closer together and there may be more arguing later as the children's interests overlap. While, larger gaps give you the opportunity to enjoy each child as an individual and to give them your undivided attention for the first few years. It also means you can spread the cost of having children over a longer period of time.
However, children who are very widely spaced may grow up less close to one another. Sometimes there is resentment from the older child who feels his position has been usurped by a new arrival.
Also, the risks of the same birth complications seen with a very small gap between pregnancies kick in for much larger gaps too. The review above found that gaps of 59 months (about five years) or more between pregnancies were also associated with a significantly increased risk of premature delivery , low birth weight and small for gestational age.
In general, it is sensible to wait at least six months to a year before trying to conceive again in order to give your next baby a healthier start to life. Other than that, there don't appear to be any major disadvantages associated with having your babies close together, although it may be more emotionally and financially demanding in the short term. The key question is "Are you ready to have another baby?"
Reviewed by Dr Ashwini Nabar, BabyCenter India's expert obstetrician and gynaecologist.
Read this article in Hindi: बच्चों की उम्र में कितना अंतर सबसे अच्छा होता है?
Read more on:
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References
Conde-Agudelo A, Rosas-Bermudez A, Kafury-Goeta AC. 2006. Birth spacing and risk of adverse perinatal outcomes: a meta-analysis. JAMA. 295(15):1809-23.King JC. 2003. The risk of maternal nutritional depletion and poor outcomes increases in early or closely spaced pregnancies. J Nutr. 133(5 Suppl 2):1732S-36S.
Winkvist A, Rasmussen KM, Habicht J-P. 1992. A new definition of maternal depletion syndrome. Am J Public Health. 82:691-694.
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