Shorter birth intervals between siblings are associated with increased risk of parental divorce

Birth Spacing and Parents' Physical and Mental Health: An Analysis Using Individual and Sibling Fixed Effects

An extensive literature has examined the relationship between birth spacing and subsequent health outcomes for parents, particularly for mothers. However, this research has drawn almost exclusively on observational research designs, and almost all studies have been limited to adjusting for observable factors that could confound the relationship between birth spacing and health outcomes. In this study, we use Norwegian register data to examine the relationship between birth spacing and the number of general practitioner consultations for mothers' and fathers' physical and mental health concerns immediately after childbirth (1-5 and 6-11 months after childbirth), in the medium term (5-6 years after childbearing), and in the long term (10-11 years after childbearing). To examine short-term health outcomes, we estimate individual fixed-effects models: we hold constant factors that could influence parents' birth spacing behavior and their health, comparing health outcomes after different births to the same parent. We apply sibling fixed effects in our analysis of medium- and long-term outcomes, holding constant mothers' and fathers' family backgrounds. The results from our analyses that do not apply individual or sibling fixed effects are consistent with much of the previous literature: shorter and longer birth intervals are associated with worse health outcomes than birth intervals of approximately 2-3 years. Estimates from individual fixed-effects models suggest that particularly short intervals have a modest negative effect on maternal mental health in the short term, with more ambiguous evidence that particularly short or long intervals might modestly influence short-, medium-, and long-term physical health outcomes. Overall, these results are consistent with small to negligible effects of birth spacing behavior on (non-pregnancy-related) parental health outcomes.

Rural-urban disparities in birth interval among women of reproductive age in Nigeria

Nigeria like most developing nations still faced with a higher rate of short birth interval (SBI), and its associated consequences, such as adverse maternal and child health outcomes. This study aimed to determine the distribution and factors associated with SBI in rural and urban Nigeria. The data for this study were extracted from the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (2018 NDHS). Statistical analyses were descriptive analysis and binary logistic model. The proportions of SBI in rural and urban Nigeria were 20.7% and 20.3% respectively. Women's age, geopolitical region, education level, and the number of children ever born were significantly associated with SBI in rural and urban Nigeria. Maternal Wealth index and antenatal care visits were only significant in rural while working status was only significant in urban Nigeria after controlling for other factors. Higher odds of SBI for middle class women than poor women (AOR = 1.19, 95% CI = 1.06-1.35), and increase in ANC visits reduces the odds of having SBI: 4-7 visits (AOR = 0.87, 95% CI = 0.77-0.98) and > 7visits (AOR = 0.83, 95% CI = 0.69-0.99). There were slight disparities in the prevalence of short birth intervals in rural and urban areas. Wealth index and ANC visits were only significant in rural Nigeria. Public health awareness campaigns should be strengthened to drive the importance of birth spacing techniques such as the utilization of modern contraceptives and breastfeeding in all the geo-political regions and across all age strata. Women particularly those residing in the rural areas should be encouraged to advance their education to at least a secondary level and enlightened on the importance of ANC.