Insight Evaluation, Chapel Hill, NC, United States.
RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC, United States.
Contraception. 2021 Mar;103(3):190-194. doi: 10.1016/j.contraception.2020.11.013. Epub 2020 Dec 4.
Very short interpregnancy intervals are associated with negative health outcomes for mothers and children, and pregnancies with very short interpregnancy intervals are more likely to be unintended than pregnancies that are more widely spaced. The objective of this study was to improve understanding of women's motivations regarding pregnancy spacing.
In 2017, we conducted 8 focus group discussions with 49 English- and Spanish-speaking postpartum women in central North Carolina. The groups explored participants' preferences for birth spacing and factors that influenced their decisions. We recorded, transcribed, and coded the discussions and analyzed these data for core themes.
Participants' ideas about when and whether to have more children were fluid-some had specific ideas during pregnancy or after delivery that changed over time; others had no definite plans. The primary reason for close birth spacing was to promote their children's having a closer relationship. Reasons for wider spacing included recovery from the previous pregnancy, challenges related to having 2 babies concurrently, and desire to wait for more favorable life circumstances. Participants did not mention health risks to children of short interpregnancy intervals and said that no health care providers discussed these risks with them. They had mixed perspectives about whether this information would influence their own child-spacing preferences but agreed that it should be shared with women to promote informed decision-making.
This study adds to limited research regarding the factors that women consider when determining pregnancy spacing. Better understanding of women's motivations can help inform counseling to help women achieve their desired pregnancy spacing.
极短的孕次间隔与母婴的健康不良结局相关，且极短孕次间隔的妊娠比间隔时间较长的妊娠更有可能是非意愿妊娠。本研究旨在增进对女性妊娠间隔意愿相关因素的理解。
2017 年，我们在北卡罗来纳州中部进行了 8 组共 49 名英语和西班牙语的产后女性的焦点小组讨论。这些小组探讨了参与者对生育间隔的偏好以及影响他们决策的因素。我们对讨论进行了记录、转录和编码，并对这些数据进行了核心主题分析。
参与者关于何时以及是否要生育更多孩子的想法是灵活的——有些在怀孕或分娩后有具体的想法，随着时间的推移而改变；有些则没有明确的计划。接近的孕次间隔的主要原因是促进孩子之间更亲密的关系。间隔时间较长的原因包括从上次怀孕中恢复、同时抚养 2 个孩子的挑战，以及希望等待更有利的生活环境。参与者没有提到短孕次间隔对孩子的健康风险，并表示没有医疗保健提供者与他们讨论过这些风险。他们对这些信息是否会影响自己的孩子间隔偏好有不同的看法，但一致认为应该与女性分享，以促进知情决策。
本研究增加了关于女性在确定妊娠间隔时考虑的因素的有限研究。更好地了解女性的动机可以帮助为提供咨询服务，帮助女性实现她们期望的妊娠间隔。
