How Long to Wait Before Getting Pregnant Again

Assistance Me, Heidi! How Long Do I Need to Wait to First Trying to Get Pregnant Over again?

"Hi, Heidi! My baby is three months old — and I'd like to become meaning again. How long do I take to wait to start trying?"

Hi! Equally someone who all the same suffers with bouts of raging baby fever (xxx-something years later on the nativity of my 2d and concluding baby), I hear y'all — and the insistent telephone call of your uterus, longing to be refilled.

Still, there are compelling reasons to put your uterus on hold, at least for several months — depending on who you ask, up to 18 months or longer. The World Health Organization suggests pushing the pregnancy pause push button for a minimum of ii years. But that longer recommended expect time reflects the fact that moms in many parts of the world don't get the nourishment or wellness care their bodies need to physically recover from one pregnancy and ready for another. It also reflects another WHO recommendation: that moms breastfeed babies for a minimum of two years, particularly when other sources of nutrition are in short supply.

Back here in the U.South., where moms are less likely to be seriously food-deprived and are more than likely to receive regular health care, the guidelines are a fiddling more than liberal. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommendations requite moms the yellowish low-cal (continue with caution) on next-circular baby-making at a minimum of half-dozen months (timed from delivery of ane infant to the conception of the next), with a roundly preferred wait period of 18 months.

Getting significant again before the half-year mark happens, of course (whether on purpose or by "oops") — usually with happy, healthy results. But research does show that bump-to-bump pregnancies can somewhat increase the overall risk of complications for mom and baby, including preterm birth and depression nativity weight. A short wait time between pregnancies tin can also reduce the chances of scoring a successful vaginal birth subsequently a cesarean (VBAC).

Are the numbers all that thing? Is timing really everything when it comes to the healthy spacing of pregnancies? Definitely non. Every woman, like every pregnancy, is unlike — which is why a conversation with your OB provider is a smart first step before you start your TTC engines. Together with your partner, you can discuss all of the following factors that may — or may not — touch your ideal wait time:

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Your age. Do you take many more reproductive years alee of you, or fewer, in which to add to/consummate your family unit? Talk to your practitioner about whether your age should factor into your conclusion, perhaps fast-tracking your next TTC efforts.
Your fertility history. Was getting significant as piece of cake as getting busy (without protection)? Or was it many months — or a year or more — before your baby-making mission was accomplished? Were you able to conceive naturally, or were fertility medications needed (or even bigger fertility guns)? Though conceiving your next pregnancy may exist easier or more challenging than conceiving your last, you and your practitioner may want to talk over whether it makes sense to put extra time on your side and begin TTC sooner than later.
Your weight. Have you shed nearly of the weight from your concluding pregnancy, or are y'all however belongings onto much of it (a far more probable scenario for the average mom at three months postpartum). Extra weight can weigh on your fertility — making getting pregnant again a heavier elevator — but it can also impact the wellness of your next pregnancy, adding extra risks (including of gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, preterm labor, having a as well-big babe, having a C-section). Your practitioner may recommend that you hold off on conceiving over again until y'all close in on your ideal weight (gaining weight if you're underweight, losing if you're overweight). Another reason to wait until you've lost that infant weight (and more, if necessary): Studies testify that moms who don't take this step between pregnancies are probable to accumulate lifelong pounds with each, adding to associated risks of obesity, including Type 2 diabetes and hypertension, later in life.
Your last pregnancy. Was it easy, breezy, a not-and then-perfect storm of complications, or somewhere in between? While every pregnancy is different, even for the aforementioned mom, pregnancy history has a manner of repeating itself — the skillful, bad, the complicated, the uncomfortable. Also important to consider: Take y'all completely recovered from your concluding pregnancy and commitment (experts call the first few months postpartum The Quaternary Trimester for a reason)?
Your full general wellness. Exercise y'all have chronic conditions similar hypertension, diabetes or thyroid disease that need managing? Medications that need to exist tweaked before a next pregnancy? It'due south best to check those boxes off your preconception to-exercise list before yous become busy TTC. Something else to cistron in: whether you've been faithful about continuing to have your prenatal supplement. If you haven't, talk to your practitioner about what nutrients (especially folic acid) you may demand to play grab-upwardly on before you start TTC again.
Your mental health. Did you experience depression, feet or another mood disorder during your last pregnancy, or have you struggled with any since commitment? Since some cases of postpartum mood disorders can bear witness up afterwards in the first yr later on nascence, you lot'll desire to be sure yous're on a steady emotional grade before you begin another pregnancy — and that any mood disorder is treated and monitored. Also think about whether you'll be upwardly to the physical and emotional challenge of nurturing another pregnancy while yous're still busy nurturing a young — and accordingly needy — babe.
Whether you're breastfeeding. It'due south definitely possible to proceed breastfeeding during a next pregnancy — and, thinking alee, to tandem breastfeed a newborn and an older baby or toddler. And many moms do, successfully. Others may encounter unexpected problems breastfeeding once they're expecting. For one, breastfeeding while pregnant can be draining, literally. It can besides be a pain during the first trimester, when nipple soreness and sensitivity are at their height. And while breastfeeding during pregnancy is generally considered prophylactic, the contractions information technology tin cause (that'south the oxytocin talking) tin worry some moms, if unnecessarily. Too, while most babies don't skip a breastfeeding beat while their moms are pregnant, a picky few may pass up the slightly inverse taste of the milk, especially once colostrum starts being produced (in the second half of pregnancy). And finally, some moms detect their supply drops once they're pregnant, making supplementing with formula necessary. The bottom line: If exclusive breastfeeding is in your long-term plans, you might want to think about tabling pregnancy at to the lowest degree until your baby has begun solids, and peradventure until you've clocked in a full twelvemonth of breastfeeding or more.
Your schedule and your partner's. Sometimes, real life gets in the way of recommendations about baby-spacing, or fifty-fifty overrides them. These might include a partner who is about to deploy or is coming abode during a express window, or the demands of school or career schedules.

The decision of when (and whether) to scratch that baby itch will ultimately be yours and your partner's to make, in consultation with your OB or midwife. Equally yous think on that conclusion, here's some other fiddling something to think virtually — that little something yous're probably cuddling (or feeding, or irresolute) correct at present. I've said information technology before, and I'll say it every chance I get: Terminate and olfactory property the babies … considering they don't stay that small and sweet forever!

Big hugs,

Heidi

Help Me, Heidi!is a weekly advice column in whichWhat to Expectcreator Heidi Murkoff answers your almost pressing pregnancy and parenting questions. She's tackling the stuff you lot are desperate to know right now — so if yous have a question, ask Heidi here or on Facebook and she might answer in an upcoming column. (Not sure if Heidi's answered one of your questions? Check out the rest of the columns hither.)