SynthesisPaediatric and perinatal epidemiology2012
Impact of increasing inter-pregnancy interval on maternal and infant health.
Synthesis in Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 93 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
93 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 186 citations in OpenAlex.
- Family planning and nutrition: systematic review of the effects of family planning on nutritional status of adolescent girls and women of reproductive age.BMJ global health · 2025Pooled it
- Birth spacing and risk of adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes: A systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis.Acta obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica · 2023Pooled it
- The effect of maternal educational status, antenatal care and resumption of menses on postpartum contraceptive use in Ethiopia: systematic review and meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2023Pooled it
- Short interpregnancy interval can lead to adverse pregnancy outcomes: A meta-analysis.Frontiers in medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Postpartum modern contraception utilization and its determinants in Ethiopia: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2020Pooled it
- Short interpregnancy intervals and adverse perinatal outcomes in high-resource settings: An updated systematic review.Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology · 2019Pooled it
- Short interpregnancy intervals and adverse maternal outcomes in high-resource settings: An updated systematic review.Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology · 2019Pooled it
- The associations of birth intervals with small-for-gestational-age, preterm, and neonatal and infant mortality: a meta-analysis.BMC public health · 2013Pooled it
- Trial
- Association between maternal interpregnancy interval after live birth or pregnancy termination and birth weight: a quantile regression analysis.Scientific reports · 2018Trial
- Preconception maternal nutrition: a multi-site randomized controlled trial.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2014Trial
- Patterns and determinants of short and long interpregnancy intervals among pregnant women in Ethiopia: a population-based cross-sectional study.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2026Article
- Evaluating two models of postpartum family planning counseling on contraceptive uptake, knowledge, and intended use: evidence from a repeated cross-sectional study in Ghana.Reproductive health · 2026Article
- Article
- What is the meaning of interpregnancy interval after caesarean section for women planning further pregnancies: a mixed method systematic review protocol.Systematic reviews · 2025Article
- Is 6 Weeks Postpartum Too Late for Contraceptive Counseling in the U.S.? A Look into the Timing of Postpartum Intercourse.Journal of sex research · 2025Article
- Trajectory and determinants of family resilience in caregivers of preterm infants: A mixed-methods study.International journal of nursing sciences · 2025Article
- Short interpregnancy interval following reproductive coercion: A prospective cohort study of pregnant Ethiopian women.Pregnancy (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2025Article
- The state of postpartum contraceptive use in India: descriptive lessons from nationally representative survey data.Reproductive health · 2025Article
- Risk factors of under-five and infant mortality: An umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses.Journal of global health · 2024Review
33 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Short inter-pregnancy intervals (IPIs) have been associated with adverse maternal and infant health outcomes in the literature. However, many studies in this area have been lacking in quality and appropriate control for confounders known to be associated with both short IPIs and poor outcomes. The objective of this systematic review was to assess this relationship using more rigorous criteria, based on GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation) methodology. We found too few higher-quality studies of the impact of IPIs (measured as the time between the birth of a previous child and conception of the next child) on maternal health to reach conclusions about maternal nutrition, morbidity or mortality. However, the evidence for infant effects justified meta-analyses. We found significant impacts of short IPIs for extreme preterm birth [<6 m adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 1.58 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.40, 1.78], 6-11 m aOR: 1.23 [1.03, 1.46]], moderate preterm birth (<6 m aOR: 1.41 [1.20, 1.65], 6-11 m aOR: 1.09 [1.01, 1.18]), low birthweight (<6 m aOR: 1.44 [1.30, 1.61], 6-11 m aOR: 1.12 [1.08, 1.17]), stillbirth (aOR: 1.35 [1.07, 1.71] and early neonatal death (aOR: 1.29 [1.02, 1.64]) outcomes largely in high- and moderate-income countries. It is likely these effects would be greater in settings with poorer maternal health and nutrition. Future research in these settings is recommended. This is particularly important in developing countries, where often the pattern is to start childbearing at a young age, have all desired children quickly and then control fertility through permanent contraception, thereby contracting women's fertile years and potentially increasing their exposure to the ill effects of very short IPIs.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.