Pregnancy Gap

Written by: Wahida Sabir

According to the information provided by the Ministry of Public Health of Afghanistan, almost 1 child dies out of 5 before the age of 5 and the main cause of this death is the birth of the babies without gap and this issue causes some problems to mothers and their infants. AEPO’s writer/producer has talked to some people about this issue.

A mother from Kapisa province says, “I have given birth to five children back-to-back and due to this issue, I was not able to breastfeed them. I was bottle feeding my babies and they grew very weak.”

Another mother from Qarabagh district, Kabul province says, “I have given birth to 5 babies back-to-back and my milk dried up and I was bottle feeding them. I and my babies were always annoying.”

 Doctor Najmussama, a gynecologist at Rabia Balkhi maternity hospital in Kabul city talks about this issue, “The child in the womb of the mother is fed by mother’s milk and then his body is formed. This causes the mother to face anemia; feels weak and suffers from leg and waist pain. The first thousand days are vital in the life infant for his/her growth and mother should breastfeed him/her regularly.”

What do people think about the problems due to back-to-back birth?

Khwaja Jailani, a resident of Paghman district, Kabul province says, “When a mother gives birth to babies back-to-back, the mother and her babies might become weak and she would not be able to breastfeed them therefore her babies might not grow normally.”

Abdullah, a resident of Kunduz province says, “I am the father of eight children and my wife did not get the gap between pregnancies. Now I am not able to feed them well. My wife and my children are all weak.”

Doctor Najmussama says, “Back-to-back pregnancies could deplete essential nutrients, making mothers at higher risk for anemia and other complications such as uterine rupture, and also putting their babies at risk of low birth weight and preterm birth.”