Topic - Spacing of Children and Autism. Children who are born closer than 36 months apart run a much greater risk of autism than those who are not closely spaced.
When children are born less than a year apart, the risk is greatest. Short-term pregnancy intervals are also associated with an increase in schizophrenia.
What can you do?
Because this increased risk of autism and schizophrenia is thought to be related to a depletion of essential nutrients such as iron and folate, make sure you’re getting enough of these critical building blocks.
Since these disorders are also related to mother’s high level of stress, anything you do to reduce your anxiety and keep adrenalin and cortisol, the stress hormone, from dumping, will help your baby have a healthier life.
Just because your children are closely spaced does not automatically mean they’ll have autism or schizophrenia. A variety of other factors such as a family history of developmental and mental health disorders impact the outcome.
