Getting pregnant again too quickly after giving birth can increase the risk of preterm birth.
Preterm babies can develop debilitating health issues such as cerebral palsy and hearing loss, Medical News Today reported.
Researchers looked at how shorter intervals between pregnancies affected the length of the next one by analyzing 454,716 live births in women who had more than one pregnancy over a six-year period.
The participants were split into two groups: those with inter-pregnancy intervals (IPIs) of less than 12 months and those with IPIs between 12 and 18 months. These samples were compared with a control group that had IPIs of over 18 months.
The team found that women with shorter IPIs tended to give birth before 39 weeks compared with those who waited over 18 months.
"Short inter-pregnancy interval is a known risk factor for preterm birth, however, this new research shows that inadequate birth spacing is associated with shorter overall pregnancy duration," co-author Emily DeFranco, assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in Ohio and the Center for Prevention of Preterm Birth at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center said, Medical News Today reported.
This study has potential clinical impact on reducing the overall rate of preterm birth across the world through [counseling] women on the importance of adequate birth spacing, especially focusing on women known to be at inherently high risk for preterm birth," DeFranco said.
The researchers found that black mothers tended to have shorter IPIs than other racial groups and the rate of preterm birth was also higher in this demographic. Black women have a higher rate of preterm birth even when they have optimal IPIs.
"We know that inadequate birth spacing is associated with more adverse pregnancy outcomes, including preterm birth, in many countries like the US," Deputy Editor-in-Chief of BJOG John Thorp said, Medical News Today reported.
"This large population-based study further strengthens this and puts more emphasis on the importance of optimal birth spacing, of 18 months or more, especially among women with additional risk factors for preterm birth," he said.
