The ideal time between pregnancies is at least one year: study

Women who want to have children in their thirties or forties are often faced with a dilemma regarding the waiting time between pregnancies. Doctors often advise waiting 18 to 24 months. But the risks of pregnancy increase with age.

A study published Monday in the journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), based on 150,000 pregnancies in Canada from 2004 to 2014, concludes that the expectation of less than a year between pregnancies increases the risks, regardless of the age of the woman.

After one year, however, there is little difference in risk.

"The message to remember from the study is that closely spaced pregnancies pose risks to women of all ages," said Laura Schummers, author of the study, a postdoctoral fellow at the University. from British Columbia.

"We found that maternal risks were present only for women aged 35 and over, not for younger women, while the risks for the baby were present in women aged 20 to 34 years. years and women aged 35 and over.

The risks were similar between 12 and 24 months and "we saw a very small additional reduction between 12 and 18 months," Schummers told AFP.

The interval between pregnancies was calculated as the time between the birth of a child and the conception of the next.

For women over age 35, the risk of maternal complications was highest for pregnancies starting three, six or nine months after a previous birth.

For infants, the risks have increased among close pregnancies regardless of the mother's age.

These included stillbirth, infant death during the first year of life, low birth weight and prematurity, and affected approximately 2% of the infants participating in the study.

When the pregnancy began six months after birth, the risk of premature birth increased by 59% compared to scheduled pregnancies to start 18 months after birth.

In the United States, doctors generally urge women to wait at least 18 months between childbirth and pregnancy.

The World Health Organization recommends at least 24 months.

"Our results indicate a shorter than expected optimal interval (12-24 months) for women of all ages," the study concluded.

"This finding can be reassuring, especially for older women who must weigh the competitive risks associated with increasing breast age with longer pregnancy interval intervals (including infertility and childbirth). chromosomal abnormalities) with the risks of short pregnancy intervals. "

Waiting for at least 12 months between pregnancies reduces risks, according to the study