How Long Should I Wait Before Getting Pregnant Again

Help Me, Heidi! How Long Do I Need to Expect to Start Trying to Get Pregnant Once again?

"Hi, Heidi! My baby is 3 months old — and I'd similar to become pregnant again. How long do I have to wait to start trying?"

Hi! As someone who still suffers with bouts of raging baby fever (thirty-something years after the birth of my second and last baby), I hear you — and the insistent telephone call of your uterus, longing to be refilled.

Still, at that place are compelling reasons to put your uterus on agree, at to the lowest degree for several months — depending on who you lot ask, up to 18 months or longer. The Earth Wellness Organisation suggests pushing the pregnancy pause button for a minimum of two years. But that longer recommended wait time reflects the fact that moms in many parts of the globe don't go the nourishment or health care their bodies need to physically recover from one pregnancy and set for another. Information technology also reflects another WHO recommendation: that moms breastfeed babies for a minimum of two years, particularly when other sources of diet are in curt supply.

Dorsum here in the U.South., where moms are less likely to be seriously nutrient-deprived and are more likely to receive regular health care, the guidelines are a lilliputian more than liberal. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommendations requite moms the yellow low-cal (proceed with caution) on side by side-round baby-making at a minimum of six months (timed from delivery of one baby to the formulation of the side by side), with a roundly preferred expect menstruation of 18 months.

Getting pregnant again before the half-year mark happens, of class (whether on purpose or by "oops") — unremarkably with happy, good for you results. But research does evidence that bump-to-crash-land pregnancies can somewhat increase the overall run a risk of complications for mom and baby, including preterm birth and low nascence weight. A short wait time between pregnancies can besides reduce the chances of scoring a successful vaginal birth after a cesarean (VBAC).

Are the numbers all that matter? 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 chat with your OB provider is a smart first step before you starting time your TTC engines. Together with your partner, y'all can talk over all of the post-obit factors that may — or may not — bear upon your ideal wait fourth dimension:

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Your age. Practice you have many more reproductive years ahead of you, or fewer, in which to add together to/complete your family unit? Talk to your practitioner nigh whether your age should factor into your conclusion, perhaps fast-tracking your next TTC efforts.
Your fertility history. Was getting pregnant as easy as getting decorated (without protection)? Or was it many months — or a year or more — before your baby-making mission was accomplished? Were yous able to conceive naturally, or were fertility medications needed (or fifty-fifty bigger fertility guns)? Though conceiving your next pregnancy may be easier or more challenging than conceiving your concluding, 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 y'all shed most of the weight from your final pregnancy, or are you still holding onto much of it (a far more probable scenario for the boilerplate mom at three months postpartum). Extra weight tin can weigh on your fertility — making getting meaning again a heavier lift — simply it can also touch on the health of your next pregnancy, adding actress risks (including of gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, preterm labor, having a as well-big baby, having a C-section). Your practitioner may recommend that you hold off on conceiving over again until you shut in on your ideal weight (gaining weight if you're underweight, losing if y'all're overweight). Some other reason to wait until you've lost that infant weight (and more, if necessary): Studies testify that moms who don't take this pace between pregnancies are likely to accumulate lifelong pounds with each, adding to associated risks of obesity, including Blazon ii diabetes and hypertension, subsequently 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, fifty-fifty for the same mom, pregnancy history has a mode of repeating itself — the good, bad, the complicated, the uncomfortable. Also important to consider: Have you completely recovered from your last pregnancy and commitment (experts call the outset few months postpartum The Fourth Trimester for a reason)?
Your general wellness. Do you take chronic weather condition like hypertension, diabetes or thyroid disease that demand managing? Medications that need to exist tweaked before a adjacent pregnancy? Information technology's best to check those boxes off your preconception to-practise list before you go decorated TTC. Something else to gene in: whether yous've been faithful about continuing to have your prenatal supplement. If you lot oasis't, talk to your practitioner well-nigh what nutrients (especially folic acid) you may need to play catch-upwards on earlier you outset TTC once more.
Your mental health. Did y'all experience depression, anxiety or some other mood disorder during your last pregnancy, or have you struggled with any since commitment? Since some cases of postpartum mood disorders tin can show up later in the outset year after birth, you'll want to be certain you're on a steady emotional course before you begin another pregnancy — and that any mood disorder is treated and monitored. Also think near whether yous'll be upwards to the concrete and emotional challenge of nurturing another pregnancy while yous're still busy nurturing a young — and appropriately needy — baby.
Whether you're breastfeeding. Information technology'southward definitely possible to continue breastfeeding during a side by side pregnancy — and, thinking alee, to tandem breastfeed a newborn and an older infant or toddler. And many moms do, successfully. Others may encounter unexpected problems breastfeeding once they're expecting. For 1, breastfeeding while pregnant can be draining, literally. It tin can likewise be a pain during the offset trimester, when nipple soreness and sensitivity are at their summit. And while breastfeeding during pregnancy is generally considered rubber, the contractions it tin can cause (that'due south the oxytocin talking) can worry some moms, if unnecessarily. As well, while near babies don't skip a breastfeeding beat while their moms are pregnant, a picky few may reject the slightly inverse taste of the milk, especially one time colostrum starts existence produced (in the second half of pregnancy). And finally, some moms find their supply drops once they're significant, making supplementing with formula necessary. The lesser line: If sectional breastfeeding is in your long-term plans, y'all might want to recall nigh tabling pregnancy at least until your baby has begun solids, and possibly until you lot've clocked in a full year of breastfeeding or more.
Your schedule and your partner'southward. Sometimes, real life gets in the way of recommendations near baby-spacing, or fifty-fifty overrides them. These might include a partner who is well-nigh to deploy or is coming dwelling during a limited window, or the demands of school or career schedules.

The decision of when (and whether) to scratch that babe itch will ultimately exist yours and your partner's to make, in consultation with your OB or midwife. Every bit yous think on that determination, hither's another fiddling something to remember well-nigh — that footling something you're probably cuddling (or feeding, or changing) right now. I've said information technology before, and I'll say it every hazard I get: Stop and smell the babies … because they don't stay that small-scale and sweet forever!

Big hugs,

Heidi

Help Me, Heidi!is a weekly advice column in whichWhat to Waitcreator Heidi Murkoff answers your most pressing pregnancy and parenting questions. She'southward tackling the stuff you are desperate to know right now — so if y'all have a question, enquire Heidi hither or on Facebook and she might answer in an upcoming column. (Not certain if Heidi'southward answered 1 of your questions? Check out the residue of the columns here.)