Dr Arotiba Abayomi, the Registrar, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, in Omu-Aran, Kwara advises on birth-spacing.
According to the Medical expert, married couples ought to adhere strictly to the child spacing policy and regulations to avoid unwarranted medical challenges.
After having a baby, it is a good idea to wait at least 18 months before getting pregnant again to maintain the best health for the new mother’s body and her baby.
The 18-month rest period is called “birth spacing.” When the time between pregnancies is less than 18 months, a woman’s body may not be ready to have a healthy baby.
The expert said that couples should ensure a minimum of two years spacing between their children, especially as it concerned women, to stay healthy.
According to him, such adherence to child spacing regulations became necessary in order to avoid the premature death of the fetus in the womb during another pregnancy.
The specialist further explained that inadequate spacing of children among couples could lead to over-population and equally posed challenges to the nation’s development plans.
Abayomi suggested that a woman should wait for six months to be certified fit and healthy before aiming for another pregnancy in case of a miscarriage.
“Maternal anaemia (lack of enough blood in a woman due to delivery) could set in and pose great challenges to a woman if she conceived frequently without spacing her children.
“Frequent pregnancy can deny a woman the ability to practice exclusive breastfeeding which will in turn have adverse effects on the child at hand, especially infant deaths, malnutrition and or infections.
“Not spacing the children can lead to huge financial challenges on the family and the society as a whole as the children uncatered for, can constitute nuisance to the society.
“Over population resulting from not spacing the children also have adverse effects on the nation’s budget planning and policies,”
The medical practitioner listed girl-child education, women empowerment, media sensitization, better government policies to allow women key into decision making and accessible healthcare services as critical keys to encouraging child-spacing for a healthy family and society at large.
