Pregnancy over age 35

As women delay starting families, they are – obviously – getting pregnant at later ages than did women in previous generations. It’s always been known that there may be some more risks for older mothers during pregnancy, but what exactly are the risks?

According to a March of Dimes fact sheet, 1 in 5 women over the age of 35 are having their first baby (or babies, if they have multiples). Women over the age of 35 could take longer to get pregnant, have more trouble getting pregnant, and they have a higher chance of having twins. This increase is both natural (women do have a naturally higher risk of having twins as they get older) and because of increasing fertility treatments, which often result in multiple births.

Celebrity moms who had twins over the age of 35:

Geena Davis (@48)  Marcia Cross (@44)    Holly Hunter (@47)

Jane Seymour (@44) Cheryl Tiegs (@52)

It appears that the risk of miscarriage can increase as women are older. As well, older mothers seem to have a higher risk of developing gestational diabetes, diabetes that is only present during pregnancy, placenta previa – a situation where the placenta partially (or totally) covers the cervix, and premature delivery.

Because of the increased risks of having a child with a genetic disability when mothers are older, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) has issued recommendations that women over 35 who become pregnant should be offered testing to see if the fetus has any chromosomal abnormalities.

Images: Newscom

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