Having babies less than a year apart poses risks for both mother and child, whatever the woman’s age, according to new ʀᴇsᴇᴀʀᴄʜ.
The authors of a big sᴛᴜᴅʏ of nearly 150,000 pregnancies in Canada say the safest interval between births is 12 to 18 months. They suggest women over the age of 35 who may not want to wait long between one pregnancy and the next should be counselled that waiting 12 to 18 months is safest for both them and their baby. Stephanie Hansen, a single mom in Washington state, gave birth to three baby girls in 2020. And they’re not triplets. Daphne came first. She was born on Jan. 28.
A little more than 10 months later, on Dec. 8, the infant was joined by twin sisters Rubie and Penelope. The second pregnancy came as a total sʜᴏᴄᴋ to Hansen, who was in a new relationship. “In order to get on birth ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴏʟ, I had to take a pregnancy ᴛᴇsᴛ,” Hansen recalled.
