Is it safe to have a child every year?

[faithfulbird20]

I know sue Radford has and she looks healthy. But is it safe? Just working it out sometimes she's been 2 months post Partum, sometimes 6...but shes just about had one every year. I was always told to wait 18 months before trying again but I waited till my daughter was nearly 3...

I think there's a big difference between having two (or even three) very close together and having a baby every year. The first is probably not ideal but not too awful either. The second is almost certainly a bad idea I'd imagine!

At 39, Mariam Nabatanzi is the biological mother of 38 children. Since being married off at the age of 12, Mariam has given birth no less than 15 times to twins, triplets and quadruplets. Only her youngest child was born on his own.

rtd.rt.com/films/mother-of-38-ugandan-mariam-nabatanzi/amp/

I have 6 children. Eldest 30, then 24, 19, 17, 16 and 10. The 17 and 16 year olds are a year and few days apart...that was a shock to the system and I am sure contributed to the massive PND/breakdown I had when the 16 year old was born. He wasnt planned and as much as I am happy to have him (well....when he isnt being a teen ARSEHOLE) I wouldnt do it by choice.

@nancy75

When was formula widely available? My Nan would have had her first baby in 1949 (and her last in 1971) in that time she had 14 live births & 3 (my dad thinks) miscarriages/later losses. So 17 pregnancies in 22 years. They were dirt poor so more likely she was breastfeeding unless baby milk was very cheap/free

My grandfather was born in 1906, was formula fed and lived til 77. His mother died in childbirth so the early imperfect form of milk powder was his only hope of surviving in a tiny community with no one able to wet nurse him.

(Apparently formula was invented in 1865.)

I’ve left 2.5-3 years between my dc as I’ve had multiple c sections

I can't begin to imagine what her pelvic floors are like...

@IcedCoffeeAlways

I was told by my community midwife a baby born within 1 year of another baby is known as a “neglected child” because of the lack of nutrients left in the mother within the first year after giving birth.

What the fuck

My friend has just had her 3rd baby in 3 years... not sure how she does it tbh... my body was defo messed up after my daughter 9 years ago, not even fully recovered.
Fair play to sue Radford though, if she’s managing then good on her. She knows the risks.

I only have two, two years and seven months apart.I intended having two more, but both of mine born by EMCS. This was in the days when caesarean sections were performed under GA and the longitudinal classical scar was used.
When my second labour became complicated like the first one and it was clear that I needed another section the doctor in charge told me to make it my last as my uterus would not stand up to anymore. That was the reason I had the tubal tie done.
Fifty years previously both my babies and myself would have died.

@lurker69 how many do you have? What does he mean by died? Like during birth or during the pregnancy?

I had three in 2 years and 3 months. The first two were deliberately 13m apart.
The third was an on the pill shock
Then I had my fourth and final baby 3 years later.
The first three were fine.. the 4th and my body went NOPE and left me with just about everything prolapsed (had a hysterectomy at 35)

BUT my children had a fab childhood so close together. No one was neglected , they've gone on to excellent careers (barring no 4 who is disabled) and they are very close, happy adults, who all want several children themselves ..though only one has reproduced so far.

I suspect my body could have produced a baby every year.. I was very very fertile . However my pelvic organs didn't thank me for it!

@Cocovivid

I don't know but after 4 in 7 years my body is completely fooked. I don't know how Sue is still standing, genuinely. The toll of pregnancy on the body is immense.

Same here !

Sue Radford freaks me out, I can't imagine becoming pregnant again before my uterus had even fully gone back to its pre-pregnancy size, I believe it takes around 2 months although I might be wrong there and I imagine every woman is different. There's 3 years between my children and both pregnancies plus both being born by EMCS have taken a heavy toll on my body, my youngest is 4 months and just the thought of becoming pregnant now gives me palpitations

I would love another baby but I think I'm too scared to get pregnant again period. It was quite hard for me to overcome my fears for this pregnancy and I just don't think I could do it again and I have so much more to lose. I know that's no way to live.

okay 3 under 3 and a maternity nurse.
define "fine" many who have multiple births in rapid succession loose bladder control and occasionally bowel.
many loose their teeth due to the body needing calcium and go onto having problems with osteoporosis.
flooding periods and requiring hysterectomies by 50 as the uterus is floppy and doesn't contract well anymore. it doesn't contract well after delivery either and each delivery has a higher risk of hemorrhage.
varicose veins from the weight of the babies on the legs venous return system.
floppy pendulous breasts that cause neck and shoulder problems as well as sleep issues as you need to scoop them out of your armpits when you roll over.
this is just the tip of the iceberg i've not even googled and come up with this list off the top of my head.

I am stunned by the fact that she was 13 and he was 18 for the first child. How is he not in jail?

You could argue that all of children up to the legal age of consent are the result of rape.

If she has that many children she has absolutely no time to think. Convenient.

@claymodels Genuinely! She said that’s the term used between midwives when there’s another pregnancy so soon 😳
I was shocked as it’s a pretty vile term to use! Certainly not what I think of when I think of a “neglected child” 😳
I can’t remember what her full explanation was but she said that some children that are born that close after another only receive around half of certain nutrients that they should ideally receive - especially if the mother is breastfeeding the first while pregnant 🤷🏻‍♀️
I know a few people who have had children very very close together and all children seem to be really healthy so I’m not really sure how much of a difference it all makes.

subsequent children also tend to have lower IQ's.
yes it's the maternal nutrition thing.

This whole thread has me wincing and doing pelvic floors.

@fallfallfall

subsequent children also tend to have lower IQ's. yes it's the maternal nutrition thing.

Is this really true. My extended family is large (Nan had 10 kids) and I mentioned to my husband once that the younger kids in each family all either struggle or are not particularly nice people. I always wondered if it was to do with them not getting enough parenting as they came into chaotic houses with 7/8/9 other children in already. Never considered anything about nutrition in the womb.

I guess it depends if you do it multiple times rather than just once, or even twice.

The amount of misinformation on this thread is staggering.

they suggest you wait 3 months after an early miscarriage before trying to conceive again

'They' don't. You can try again whenever you feel ready. It's useful to allow at least one cycle for dating purposes.

Regarding spacing children, there's no one right answer. It's dependent on the mother. It's true that physiologically it takes a certain toll; equally that childbirth is not without risks so the more children you have, the more risk you & baby face.

It's also true that breastfeeding acts as a natural limiter.

But for some women, it's genuinely something they & their bodies cope well with. It's not common now.

Those with misconceptions about Ireland - large families were still very common into the 70s. Honestly, people just didn't think much about it. Women often did work outside the home too, that's another myth.

It also not the case they died early due to having lots of children - they may of course had issues in childbirth but in itself it didn't limit their lives.

Of course, today for all sorts of valid reasons, we want to manage our fertility & make choices about our family size based on a variety of factors - personal, physiological, financial, emotional. Not all those choices were available to women before us.

@lurker69

i haven't read the thread because I'm supposed to cooking dinner, the doctors told me the reason i nearly died with my last child was because i had so many so close together and my body had had enough.

I'm amazed any doctor would say something like this.

@IcedCoffeeAlways

I was told by my community midwife a baby born within 1 year of another baby is known as a “neglected child” because of the lack of nutrients left in the mother within the first year after giving birth.

Not enough 🙄 for this, if any medical professional ever said this.

Rubbish.