Women should wait at least a year between giving birth and conceiving another child, according to a new scientific study.
The research, published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, found that shorter gaps between pregnancies risk premature births, smaller babies, and infant and mother mortality.
Risks to the mother were found only for women over the age of 35, while risks to the infant were increased at all ages but were greatest among younger women.
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The study is the most extensive evaluation yet of how the role of pregnancy spacing could be impacted by maternal age, according to the Nursing Times.
The researchers, from the University of British Columbia and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, looked at data on almost 150,000 births in British Columbia, Canada.
They found that among women over 35 who conceived within six months of a previous birth, there was a 1.2% risk of maternal mortality or harm - equivalent to 12 cases per 1,000 pregnancies, the BBC reports. Waiting 18 months between pregnancies appears to reduce that risk to five cases per 1,000 pregnancies.
Risks for infants conceived within a year of their sibling’s birth was found for women of all ages but was greater among mothers aged between 20 and 34. This age group had an 8.5% risk of premature labour if they conceived within six months after a previous birth, dropping to 3.7% if they had waited 18 months.
The lead author of the new study, Dr Laura Schummers, said: “The findings for older women are particularly important, as older women tend to more closely space their pregnancies and often do so intentionally.”
Fellow study author Dr Wendy Norman added: “Older mothers for the first time have excellent evidence to guide the spacing of their children.”
Current World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines recommend an ideal interval of 24 months and no fewer than 18 months.
