Family planning: Get the facts about pregnancy spacing

Thinking about having another child? The amount of time between pregnancies, called pregnancy spacing, is a key part of family planning. And it can affect more than how close children are in age. It may have an effect on your health and the health of your baby. Here’s what you need to know.

Knowing when you do or don’t want to have another child can help you prepare for what’s ahead. You may want to start getting ready for another pregnancy. Or if you don’t want to get pregnant, it’s important to choose birth control that’s right for your situation.

If you decide to try to get pregnant, understand the difference that timing makes. Research shows that the amount of time between pregnancies may affect the health of pregnant people and their babies.

A pregnancy that starts within six months of a live birth has a higher risk of some health issues. But it’s not clear from the research if pregnancy spacing is the cause of these concerns. They include:

• A baby being born before the 37th week of pregnancy, also called premature birth.
• Low birth weight for the baby.
• A baby being born with a health concern. These health concerns are called congenital disorders. Or sometimes they may be called birth defects.

For pregnant people, a pregnancy that starts within six months of a live birth raises the risk of anemia. In anemia, there isn’t enough healthy red blood cells or hemoglobin in the blood to carry oxygen to the body’s tissues.

Closely spaced pregnancies also might not give the body enough time to recover after a pregnancy. For example, pregnancy and breastfeeding can lower the body’s store of some nutrients, especially folate and iron. If a pregnancy happens before those nutrients return to healthy levels, that could affect the health of both the pregnant person and the baby.

A long time between pregnancies may raise certain health risks. For example, there may be a higher risk of preeclampsia. Preeclampsia is a serious condition that can cause health concerns for the pregnant person and the baby. There also may be a higher risk of having very hard labor, also called labor dystocia.

It’s not clear why a long time between pregnancies poses health risks. It’s possible that pregnancy has a lasting positive effect on the uterus’s ability to support the growth of a fetus, but over time those positive effects fade away.

For most people, it’s best to wait 18 to 24 months but less than five years after a live birth before getting pregnant again. This lowers the risk of health problems.

For some people, the best pregnancy timing may be different, including those who:

• Are older than 35.
• Used in vitro fertilization for an earlier pregnancy.
• Had preterm labor during an earlier pregnancy.
• Have had preeclampsia.
• Have had a pregnancy loss at or after 20 weeks, called a stillbirth.
• Have had a C-section.

If one of those applies to you, talk with your healthcare professional about the right pregnancy timing for your situation.

Also, these risks and recommendations typically don’t apply to people who have had a miscarriage, which is the loss of a pregnancy before 20 weeks. If you’re healthy and feel ready, there’s no need to wait to get pregnant after one miscarriage. If you’ve had two or more miscarriages in a row, talk to your healthcare professional before trying to get pregnant again.

Choosing when to have a baby is a personal decision. When planning your next pregnancy, there’s a lot that you might want to think about along with the possible health effects. As you decide on the timing of another pregnancy, use a reliable form of birth control.

And keep in mind that there’s no perfect time to have another baby. Even with careful planning, you can’t always control when a pregnancy happens. But knowing about your choices for birth control and understanding the possible risks linked to the timing of pregnancies can help you make an informed decision about growing your family.