How soon can you get pregnant again after giving birth?

I think the guidance is to wait 18 months from birth, however, obviously this does not always happen. It may also be worth seeing how you get on with birth and a new born? I've gone for a smaller age gap (I'll have an 18 month old when baby arrives). Similar to you I'm in my 30s and my partner is a little older than me...also I didn't want to get to a position of having my body back to lose it again if I got pregnant again with a slightly longer gap!! So basically do whatever you're comfortable with 😊

We will have 20 months gap and I’ll be getting on on for 37 when the baby is here. Personal choice and a lot to weigh up … for a healthy pregnancy it’s about ensuring you have the right nutrients to support a baby so getting back on a good diet and supplement routine would be helpful. It’s hard to be healthy in some ways with lack of sleep that happens with a newborn but I suppose what I mean is maybe just waiting until you’ve got those things in place and feel good mentally and then crack on! There’s a lot more risks as we age so I know the standard gap of wait time between pregnancies may not apply as much but it is definitely important to be feeling good enough before going again. Personally a year felt good to try again! But I’d been on good supplements for about 6 months prior and mindful of diet and exercise etc. apart from sleep I felt healthy :)

Yeah the risks are to both you and baby if it's too soon and you haven't given your body time to recover your nutrients. Baby will take from you (many pregnancy vitamins are for your benefit so you aren't left on empty), but if you don't have them then baby can't siphon them. Folic acid and a few others are important, so if you do want to get pregnant again soon after, I'd recommend staying on your pregnancy vitamins and maybe picking up an extra bottle of folic acid. Then you can take one in morning and one in evening to spread out the intake and increase the chance of getting more vitamins absorbed