Older Moms: Pregnancy After Age 35 By Betty Casey
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M any women are delaying careers and completing education to better birth control and better health. The average age of pregnancy today is 27. Fifty years ago, it was 21. Dr. Erin Brown, an assistant professor, residency program director, and department chair in Obstetrics and Gynecology, says that women are considered “advanced maternal age” if they are age 35 or older at the time of delivery. She has seen more older patients, and more women delaying pregnancy among friends and colleagues, but women should know that it is not without risk. pregnancy for a number of reasons, from establishing “It’s safer to have a baby now than in the past,” Dr. Brown says, “but the risk is still there.” Better technology, more data, and better, more specific medical
interventions have all made it possible to give older moms and their babies the best possible outcomes. Older women are often more settled in careers and relationships, giving them more resources to care for a child. However, older moms need to be aware that they have a higher risk of problems with pregnancy and delivery. What are the risks? “Pregnancy risks to women over age 35 increase with age, in general,” Dr. Brown says, “but we’re able to delineate more exactly what is age-based risk or if individual patients have other conditions that contribute to risk.” Some of the complications for women during pregnancy include gestational diabetes, hypertension, miscarriage, cesarean delivery, and
preeclampsia (a serious form of high blood pressure). “As a mom develops hypertension or gestational diabetes, we have research and data to monitor her more closely,” Dr. Brown says. “For example, we may do fetal monitoring on a weekly basis.” Women over 35 are at a higher risk of having a stillbirth or labor and delivery complications, such as postpartum hemorrhaging. Knowing the risks, doctors can plan the timing of delivery to improve the outcomes for mom and baby. Other risks for babies of older moms include birth defects, Down syndrome, or other genetic abnormalities. Because the complications for both moms and babies increase as mothers age, it is important for women to see their OB/GYN very early in pregnancy, even if they
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