Effect of Interpregnancy Interval on Pregnancy Outcome in a Tertiary Care Centre: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study.

Introduction: Interpregnancy interval has a major impact on the maternal and fetal health worldwide. Women with short interpregnancy interval show higher rates of low birth weight and preterm babies. So this study aimed to study the effect of interpregnancy interval on pregnancy outcomes.

Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of a tertiary care center after taking ethical approval from Institutional Review Committee (Reference number: 229/080/081(6-11)E2). Data from September 1^st, 2023 to January 30^th, 2024 was collected. All multigravida women with singleton pregnancy after 28 weeks of gestation who delivered in our hospital with previous birth were enrolled in the study. Point estimate and 95% Confidence Interval were calculated. The data was entered and analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 26.0.

Results: Among the women, 31 (3.57%) women had short interpregnancy interval ≤18 months whereas 836 (96.43%) had interpregnancy interval of >18 months. The mean age of the women was 28 years. Previous cesarean section was common indication of cesarean section 27 (87.09%) among women with short interpregnancy interval. These women had higher rates of preterm and low birth weight babies 11(35.58%) and 15(48.38%).

Conclusions: Women with short interpregnancy interval ≤18 months had higher preterm births and low birth weight babies. Pregnancy induced hypertension, hypothyroidism and gestational diabetes were increased in women with interpregnancy interval of >18 months.