Understanding the Risks of Pregnancy at an Older Age

According to ISNA, in developed and industrialized countries, it is not exceptional for women to become pregnant at the age of 40, but a study based on hundreds of thousands of pregnancy cases shows that having a baby at an older age is risky for both the mother and the baby.
A team of Canadian experts reviewed health information on 800,000 pregnant women in Washington state, which was collected between 2003 and 2013. The typical age for pregnancy in this study was considered to be 25 to 29 years and factors such as artificial insemination were not included. The results of this study, which was conducted at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, were published in the specialized journal “PLOS Medicine”.

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The results of the studies show a growing curve of complications in clear accordance with the mother’s age. The risk of circulatory disorders, embolism or kidney failure threatens mothers over 40 years of age. For example, the risk of amniotic fluid penetrating the uterus into the blood is very high; a factor that often leads to the death of the mother. On average, 16 out of every 1,000 deliveries are accompanied by difficulties and severe physical complications, and this rate is clearly higher in mothers over 39 years of age.
In mothers aged 40 to 44, this rate is one percent higher than in mothers aged 25 to 29. In this study, the risk of shock during childbirth for the older age group was assessed as three times higher and the risk of amniotic fluid embolism was eight times higher.

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In women over 50 years of age, the general and life-threatening risks of childbirth are 6 percent higher than in women aged 25 to 29.
According to Deutsche Welle, experts have said that the results of this study should be used to advise women who postpone pregnancy until after the age of 40; because as gestational age increases, complications and diseases related to childbirth will also increase in the future.