Birth Spacing to be theme for 2017 World Population Day

Staff Reporter MUSCAT: Birth Spacing, the United Nations Population Fund’s (UNFPA’s) theme for this year’s World Population Day is recommended for women and child health.

The theme of the World Population Day 2017 is “Birth Spacing: Empowering People, Developing Nations.”

The concept of birth spacing advises women to have a gap of at least three years before the next pregnancy, usually to ensure that the mother gets the recommended two years to breastfeed the child and to regain her health in the third year.

“Birth spacing is actually a cultural and Islamic concept and it’s about not having births every year to preserve the health of the mother, and ensure that the family is prepared to have a new child and also to ensure the health of the child and the well being of the family at large.

“When you have births every year, it might not be good for the health of the mother and might not be economically viable for the family as well, so birth spacing is actually commended as part of the Islamic values and in that way it’s different from family planning,” said Asr Ahmed Tososn, UNFPA representative to Oman.

Dr. Natalia Kanem, acting executive director of the UNFPA said birth spacing is critical for making improvements in other fields, “And since 1969, when UNFPA began its operations, it has been helping remove obstacles to birth spacing and enabling women to exercise their reproductive rights.”

“Better reproductive health care, including voluntary birth spacing, can bolster economies and contribute to sustainable development by empowering women to complete their education, join the paid labour force, be more productive in their jobs, earn higher incomes and increase savings and investments.”