How long pregnancy gap should be: birth spacing advice for mum and child’s health
- Babies absorb a lot of vitamins and nutrients from their mothers and it’s important to replenish these before the next pregnancy
- WHO guidelines recommend that women wait at least 24 months, while other studies suggest 12 to 18 months is a reasonable gap
Women often wonder what is the ideal amount of time to wait after giving birth before getting pregnant again. There are practical considerations, such as the desired age gap between siblings, and physiological ones, such as maternal age.
Lisa Cheng became pregnant with her second child when her eldest was 12 months old. The 38-year-old Hongkonger had hoped to wait about 18 months after the birth of her first child before conceiving again, but “it just happened by accident that we got pregnant earlier”.
She says the pregnancy and post-partum period were more difficult with her second child – who is now 12 months old – than with her first.
“My second pregnancy was a lot harder on my body in terms of lower back pain and tiredness, perhaps because I was older. And before I got pregnant, I hadn’t really had much time to take care of myself because I was taking care of the first one,” Cheng says.
“My energy level was pretty shot and to go through another pregnancy right away wasn’t easy,” she adds. “It wasn’t good for my mental and physical health. I also had a pretty tough post-pregnancy period the second time around as I think my body just wasn’t as well equipped to handle the second pregnancy.”
