Ready for more? Why birth spacing matters

My New Life

Kate Garlinge

Loveverytoddler, Toddlerplay, Toddlereducation, Playtolearn, Smartbaby, Babymilestones, Toddleractivities, Loveverybaby, Babyeducation, Strongtoddler, Toddlermilestones, Toddlersubscriptionbox, Toddlertoys, Earlylearningprogram, Babydevelopment, Sustainabletoys, Learningtoys, Learningthroughplay, Strongbaby, Babysubscriptionbox, Educationaltoys, Playkits, Parenting, Babytoys, Playtime, Toddlerdevelopment, Babyactivities, Smarttoddler, Lovevery, Kids & Family, Babyplay

4.7 • 654 Ratings

🗓️ 13 July 2022

⏱️ 11 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Usually when we consider having another baby, personal preferences factor heavily into decisions around timing — things like budget or sibling dynamics. But it’s rare to consider the health impacts, and it’s even less common to discuss birth spacing with your doctor.

Jessica Rolph, your host, welcomes Dr. Alison Gemmill to today’s episode. Alison is an Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins, in the Department of Population, Family, and Reproductive Health. She shares the biological benefits and risks associated with the timing of your pregnancies, with the goal of helping listeners make informed decisions about when to grow their families.

Key Takeaways:

[1:35] What does the research tell us about the optimum time between pregnancies?

[2:27] What are the benefits of waiting 18 months between pregnancies?

[3:22] What should parents be doing about spacing between a miscarriage?

[3:58] What about waiting more than five years?

[5:38] What risks are at play in the case of an older mom?

[8:51] What does research show in regard to the connection between autism and birth intervals less than 18 months?

[10:11] What is Dr. Gemmill’s theory on how much the baby takes from the mother’s nutritional reserve and for how long it takes to build that backup?

[11:33] Jessica shares her top three takeaways from her with Dr. Gemmill.

Mentioned in this episode:

Brought to you by Lovevery.com

Receive weekly emails about your child’s development, and stay in the know about new play essentials, promos, and more by signing up at Lovevery.com

Follow Lovevery and Jessica Rolph on Instagram

Pregnant with your second? Listen to My New Life Episode 22: “New additions: Bringing home a sibling” with Gabrielle Felman, and you’ll find more insights on sibling dynamics on the Lovevery app. Details at Lovevery.com

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Parenthood is a time of so much change for you and your baby.
0:13.8	A little reliable information can go a long way towards making this new life a good life.
0:20.0	I'm Jessica Rolfe, and this is my new life,
0:24.0	a love every podcast. While the science aligns on what's healthy for a baby's brain development,
0:30.1	when it comes to how to care for our babies, there's a seemingly endless supply of competing
0:34.9	perspectives. Parents are swimming in advice on sleep, feeding,
0:39.8	parenting philosophies. In this season of the podcast, we aim to provide a variety of curated
0:46.1	perspectives so you can make informed choices for your family.
0:59.5	Usually when we consider having another baby, personal preferences factor heavily into decisions around timing, things like budget or sibling dynamics.
1:03.3	It's rare to consider the health impacts, and it's even less common to discuss birth spacing
1:08.0	with your doctor.
1:09.6	Here to share the biological benefits and risks
1:12.2	associated with the timing of your pregnancies and to help us make an informed decision around
1:17.5	when to grow our families is Dr. Allison Gemmell. She is an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins
1:23.0	in the Department of Population, Family, and Reproductive Health. Welcome, Allison.
1:28.3	Oh, thank you for having me.
1:29.6	I'm excited to talk about this topic.
1:31.7	So great to have your expertise here with us.
1:34.8	So what does the research tell us about the optimum time between pregnancies?
1:39.7	Right now, we have recommendations from places like the World Health Organization and the
1:45.4	American College of OBGYNs that does recommend optimal pregnancy spacing somewhere in the
1:51.5	range of waiting to conceive the next pregnancy added about 18 months up to about five years.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Kate Garlinge, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Kate Garlinge and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.