What if you are over 35 and Pregnant?
In Countries where couples are marrying at an older age, more and more women are getting pregnant only after 35. Is this safe for both mother and baby?
WHILE UNCOMPLICATED pregnancies and healthy bouncy babies are still possible for those women who conceive much later in life, there is certainly a higher risk of complications for this group of women as compared to their younger counterparts.
CAESAREAN
The risk of a first-time mother over 40 needing a Caesarean can be as high as 47 percent, as compared to a 14 percent possibility for a first-time mum in her 20s.
CHROMOSOMAL ABNORMALITIES
One of the greatest risks of being an older mum is that of chromosome abnormalities, such as Down’s Syndrome. The risk of the baby being born with this abnormality increases with the age of the mother.
Down’s Syndrome is a chromosomal abnormality that can cause mental retardation and heart defects.
In Singapore, it has been estimated hat 66 percent of Down’s Syndrome cases occurred in babies of women who were 35 years and older, 43 percent of the cases happened to babies of the oldest 6.5 percent of mothers (i.e. those aged 38 and above).
DIABETES AND HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE
Both the above conditions are more common in women in their 40s than in younger women. Both the conditions can complicate a pregnancy and increase the risk of pre-eclampsia, pre-term delivery, placental problems, stillbirth, or birth defects in the child.
Even if you don’t have any of the two pre-existing conditions, being older and pregnant does make you more likely to develop gestational diabetes and pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH).
DIFFICULT LABOUR
First-time mothers over 35 years are more likely than women in their 20s to have difficulties in labour.
LOW BIRTH WEIGHT
Some studies suggest that women who delay childbearing until 35 years or older are at an increased risk of delivering a baby with low birth weight (less than 2.5kg) or premature born at less than 37 full weeks
of pregnancy). These risks rise modestly but progressively with a woman’s age, even if she doesn’t have any age-related chronic health problems such as diabetes or high blood pressure.
Next post: The benefits of late pregnancy and how to help yourself.