Suddenly
35 or even 40 is no longer a dangerous number!
Agreed, the risk of certain complications
is clearly age-related. If you have a good
headstart with regular prenatal care, a
healthy lifestyle and overall good health
it is very likely that the pregnancy will
progress smoothly with few or no complications.
The other good news is the older mother
today is considerably at a lower risk then
the older mother, say, 20 years ago. Women
in the past were having their last baby
(after several babies!) after 35 with inadequate
care (pre, ante & post) while today
women giving birth over 35 are having either
their 1st or 2nd child with good care programs.
Further, evaluations for birth defects can
be managed in utero through a variety of
screening and diagnostic tests. Chronic
conditions such as preterm labor more prevalent
in older mothers can be controlled successfully
through drugs and medical supervision.
The
Cons for You
• Risk of miscarriage goes up with
age, increasing even further after 40 because
of the aging ova (1 in 4 pregnancies end
in miscarriage). This is primarily due to
fetal chromosomal abnormalities.
• With age the likelihood of developing
high blood pressure rises too, even if you
never had this problem before. Chances of
preeclampsia too increases; swelling of
hands and feet, traces of protein in the
urine and high blood pressure become a possibility
after week 20 of pregnancy
• Being over 35 also means you are
at a greater risk of developing placenta
previa during pregnancy. It's a condition
where the placenta is lying in the wrong
position either partially or completely
covering the cervix. Bleeding may occur
in the final trimester which would entail
hospitalization and a Cesarean birth.
• Gestational diabetes is another
probable complication as you age even if
you have never had diabetes before. If left
untreated diabetes during pregnancy can
cause your baby to grow too big increasing
the odds of a Cesarean delivery. The newborn
in turn can develop jaundice and hypoglycemia
(difficulty controlling blood sugar).
• Since IVF and other such procedures
are more common in older women, so are multiple
pregnancies. These procedures typically
involve implanting 2-3 fertilized eggs in
the uterus which results in twins or multiple
pregnancies. Hormonal changes too play a
part by causing the release of more than
one egg at a time thereby increasing the
chances of conceiving nonidentical twins
in an older woman.
• Research indicates that breech positioned
babies are more common in women over 35.
Again Cesarean delivery becomes a possibility.
• Preterm labor is more common; the
cervix dilates before the 37th week is up
and this triggers contractions earlier.
• Finally Cesarean deliveries are
more common when the woman is older. Apart
from the reasons outlined above, c-sections
are more probable when the pregnancy is
induced, when excess weight is gained during
pregnancy resulting in labor difficulties
and consequently a Cesarean and when the
pregnancy is closely monitored (very likely
if it is a complicated pregnancy). The first
sign of trouble such as a decelerating fetal
heart rate results in a Cesarean birth.
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The
Cons for Baby
• For unknown reasons, stillbirths
are more common in women over 35.
• There is an increased chance of
women giving birth to low birth babies i.e.
babies who weigh less than 5.5 lbs at birth.
These babies are more likely to have hypoglycemia
and hypothermia (trouble maintaining body
temperature). Of course they go on to develop
well and catch up in size and weight when
they turn 2.
• Conversely a situation where the
baby weighs more than 9 lbs at birth too
is relatively common with the older woman.
With a baby overly large, delivery becomes
difficult for the mother and a c-section
is resorted. Large newborns may suffer from
birth injury, have trouble with hypoglycemia
and jaundice.
• Studies suggest chromosomal abnormality
increases with the woman's age. A woman
below 30 is at risk of 1 in 1000 of having
a Down syndrome baby. At 35 it is about
1 in 400 and the number dwindles to 1 in
100 at 40. This includes trisomy 21, 18
or 13. A trisomy is the most common type
of chromosomal defect. In simple terms it
means that the baby has 3 instead of 2 copies
of a chromosome. Another term for trisomy
21 is Down syndrome and it is the most common
type of chromosomal defect. Trisomies 13
and 18 though more severe than 21 are fortunately
more rare.
• Research suggests women above 35
tend to give birth prematurely before 32
weeks.
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