Also, if you plan on having pregnancies close together, make sure to take an iron supplement and / or consume a diet rich in iron and Vitamin C to prevent anemia. Experts recommend taking at least 27 mg of iron each day for women trying to conceive and women who are pregnant. Having two or more pregnancies close together can mean starting off your pregnancy without sufficient stores of iron. It is often recommended that a woman's body needs 18 - 23 months between birth and subsequent conception. If another child is conceived before 18 months, there are risks of premature birth, low birth weights, and newborn death (Close Pregnancies Increase Risks). According to Women's Health article, How Having Babies Close Together Affects Your Body, "Babies conceived less than 6 months after their siblings had a 40% increased risk of being born prematurely and 61% increased risk of low birth weight, compared to women conceived 18 months later" (Fetters). Some other material says you could be at risk for an iron deficiency if you have kids under 2 years apart. It is also said that it takes several months to correct an iron deficiency. However, the final decision of when to have more children is between a couple.
My third pregnancy was conceived when my second child was 21.5 months old. My midwives say that there is usually a time where iron dips in pregnancy around the 2nd trimester and that is normal. My OB does the standard iron check, however, unlike the midwives he doesn't do another check to see if the iron has returned to normal after the dip. My midwives had me have him check again to compare the results from his first finding and in 4 months my iron had dropped further from the results of the 2nd trimester test. My results for iron were 11.6 in october 2015 and was 9.6 Feb 12, 2016. And that was with taking a prenatal that had iron in it the entire pregnancy. Through my pregnancy I had most;y taken these 4 prenatal vitamins, Mega Food Baby & Me Prenatal (18 mg of iron), Rainbow Light Prenatal One Multivitamin (30 mg of iron), Rainbow Light Prenatal Organic Multivitamin (18 mg of iron), and Nature Made Mult-Prenatal (28 mg of iron). Going back and seeing the recommended amount of the 27 mg and how much my prenatals had post pregnancy, 2 out of 3 of my natural prenatal vitamins did not have enough iron in them.
Fetters, K. Aleshia. "How Having Babies Close Together Affects Your Body." Women's Health. Rodale Inc, 30 June 2014. Web. 11 Jan. 2016. <http://www.womenshealthmag.com/mom/pregnancy-close-together-risks>.
My third pregnancy was conceived when my second child was 21.5 months old. My midwives say that there is usually a time where iron dips in pregnancy around the 2nd trimester and that is normal. My OB does the standard iron check, however, unlike the midwives he doesn't do another check to see if the iron has returned to normal after the dip. My midwives had me have him check again to compare the results from his first finding and in 4 months my iron had dropped further from the results of the 2nd trimester test. My results for iron were 11.6 in october 2015 and was 9.6 Feb 12, 2016. And that was with taking a prenatal that had iron in it the entire pregnancy. Through my pregnancy I had most;y taken these 4 prenatal vitamins, Mega Food Baby & Me Prenatal (18 mg of iron), Rainbow Light Prenatal One Multivitamin (30 mg of iron), Rainbow Light Prenatal Organic Multivitamin (18 mg of iron), and Nature Made Mult-Prenatal (28 mg of iron). Going back and seeing the recommended amount of the 27 mg and how much my prenatals had post pregnancy, 2 out of 3 of my natural prenatal vitamins did not have enough iron in them.
- Bibliography -
"Close Pregnancies Increase Risks." WebMD. WebMD, LLC, 7 Aug. 2003. Web. 11 Jan. 2016. <http://www.webmd.com/baby/news/20030807/close-pregnancies-increase-risks>.Fetters, K. Aleshia. "How Having Babies Close Together Affects Your Body." Women's Health. Rodale Inc, 30 June 2014. Web. 11 Jan. 2016. <http://www.womenshealthmag.com/mom/pregnancy-close-together-risks>.
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