New evidence on birth spacing: promising findings for improving newborn, infant, child, and maternal health

This editorial summarizes new evidence, some of which is published in this supplement, on birth spacing and newborn, infant, child and maternal health, as well as the demand for birth spacing services in the developing world. The article points to the high number of annual infant, child and maternal deaths, low birth weight infants and malnourished infants and children in developing countries. It highlights several new findings on birth spacing relevant to these conditions: – for infants and children under five years of age, births spaced at least 36 months apart are associated with the lowest mortality risk; – birth to conception intervals of less than 6 months, as well as abortion-pregnancy intervals of less than 6 months, are associated with increased risk of pre-term births, low birth weight and small for gestational age; – birth to conception intervals of less than 6 months are associated with increased risk of maternal mortality and morbidity. It argues that, in light of the new evidence, birth spacing is an important, feasible and practical intervention to address these conditions and should be included in developing country health programs.