THE SPACING OF PREGNANCIES

 The question of how long a woman should wait before becoming pregnant is something we encounter every day when we see pregnant women in our antenatal clinics. I always like to clarify family planning and pap smear on the first visit. These things may be forgotten after the baby is born and the mothers tend to neglect them. A lot of the patients often miss their six-week post-partum visits and we might not get a chance to counsel them on contraception and perform a pap smear.

The WHO advises women to wait at least 24 months between childbirth and a new pregnancy. This is more applicable if the mother has a complicated pregnancy or a caesarean delivery. According to a study published in the Lancet Regional Health using data from more than 4.7 live births in Brazil, there tend to be various cases.

in cases with shorter pregnancy intervals a lot of the time the mother’s body has not completely bounced back to its normal state and if the mother is breastfeeding there may be an element of iron deficiency. She may still have sleep deprivation looking after a toddler and more support is needed in the third trimester of the pregnancy. With a rise in maternal age in the first pregnancy a lot of the mothers tend to try for the second baby as soon as six months’ post-partum. We often see the trend of having two babies under two where the influencers promote having a smaller age gap between the kids to improve their bond and a lot of the facilities used for the firstborn is still around and can be used again.

In cases where women have more than 7 years between the pregnancies the body may behave as if it is the first pregnancy and the mother can have an increased risk of pre-eclampsia, becoming post-dates, and poor progress of labour. Longer pregnancy intervals do not increase the risk of small for gestational age fetuses.

We need more studies with many women to assess maternal and fetal outcomes in different pregnancy intervals. In the meantime, we need to assess every woman’s risks based on her age, circumstances, and the previous pregnancy outcome.

 




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

HERITAGE DAY

Image
  Heritage Day is a public holiday that is celebrated on the 24 th of September every year. It is a day that celebrates the diverse cultural heritage of South Africa, including its languages, traditions, customs, and history. My favourite part of Heritage Month is people with various cultures wearing their traditional attire and sharing their traditional food. Other activities during this month are different music and dance festivals, food markets, more art and museum visits, and most importantly family and friends getting together and braaiing! At work, we planned to celebrate Heritage Day and organize a farewell party for one of our colleagues on Friday the 27 th . It was a beautiful day with everyone wearing their traditional clothes to work and bringing a signature dish to share with everyone else. I am from the Middle East and was wondering what food item to bring. The traditional rice dishes are difficult to share. I thought about making chicken kebabs and flatbread, or sm...
Read more

ON MOTHERHOOD

Image
  My mother and I have a wonderful relationship together. Since I had a baby myself, I have needed her support even more these days. We are very blessed to stay in the same residential complex. Every morning I drop the baby by her and I know I can focus on work while she is taking good care of her. If I am running late from work or there is an emergency the baby can stay with her longer. My first memories of my mom, were probably when I was about 5 years old. My favourite bedtime story was the ugly duckling, and every single night I used to cry to that story even though it had a happy ending! The other memories are from the time my little brother was born. Back then we did not have disposable nappies and washing and drying the special cloths used as nappes was a process. I remember my little brother’s nappy time, bath time, and feeding times. The best memories of me and mom in my adult life is our little trip to Mauritius. Another prominent part of my childhood was grandma. She...
Read more

BEING PREGNANT

Image
  It is quite overwhelming for most women when they find out they are pregnant! With the aid of the new applications that track women’s menstrual cycle and the new urine pregnancy tests, most women who seek gynaecologic advice are about 6 weeks pregnant. Having the anxious couple in the consultation rooms waiting to see the little growing fetus on ultrasound can be very nerve-wracking for an ob-gyn. We want to see the little gestational sac with a tiny fetal pole showing us a flickering heartbeat. A failing pregnancy with no fetal pole, an empty uterus, or an ectopic pregnancy is certainly not the kind of news I want to give to the expecting mothers. A lot of physical changes happen to the body in the first three months of the pregnancy such as tender breasts and slight weight gain. Fatigue can be so severe that some women can just fall asleep in the middle of the dinner. It is a sign for our pregnant ladies to slow down and take it easy while that little human is growing inside ...
Read more