Pregnant and Over 40

Why are we still shocked when a female celebrity who is in her 40s announces that she is pregnant? Every subsequent article written about her makes a point of mentioning her age, with lots of people suggesting that she is selfish and irresponsible for “wanting it all”. When the same thing happens to a man, such as Rupert Murdoch at 72, David Jason at 61 and Rod Stewart at 66, there are cheers of “well done my son” and back slapping all round.

Of course there are health risks associated with conceiving over 40, but the dangers tend to be elaborated slightly by some in the medical profession. Medicine has moved on and problems such as high blood pressure, pregnancy diabetes or placenta problems can be well managed. Chromosomal abnormalities such as Down ‘s syndrome can all be screened for. Figures from the Office of National Statistics for 2005, show that the risk of having a baby with a genetic abnormality such as Down’s Syndrome rises from 2 per 1,000 births at ages 35-39 years, to 4 per 1,000 at age 40-44 years up to 14 per 1,000 at age 45 years or over (please see article on Nuchal Translucency (NT) scans for more information on this) If you’re almost, or over 40, you should strongly consider genetic testing because the risk of genetic problems increases significantly. But don’t forget that younger women can and do experience problems in pregnancy too. Science has shown that there are also risks associated with older fatherhood such as a higher chance of the child being affected by autism. So it is not just older mothers that carry greater risks.

In past years, a child born to an older mother might have been orphaned or become a carer to their parents. As life expectancy increases a woman giving birth in her 40s is likely to live a healthy life well into her child’s middle age. This is nothing new and in the days before contraception, women had babies right up to menopause.

The thing that has changed is that women are having their first child over the age of 40. The biggest problem with this, is that fertility has already started to decline at this age, making it harder to get pregnant in the first place. In the last two decades, the number of women giving birth after the age of 40 has trebled.

Many women who have delayed pregnancy until they’re over 35 are surprised to find that, given generally good health, they’re not much more likely than younger women to have serious complications, and the vast majority end up having healthy babies.

Despite the increased risk with increased age, a vast majority of babies are fine. Figures suggest that babies of older mother are no more at risk of most birth defects than those of a younger mum.

Want more information on pregnancy in the over 40s then make sure you read 40 and pregnant