To juggle career and personal life, a growing number of women choose to have a child late. But, be aware that old age, the desire to design can result in failure or expose to many pregnancy complications. Before any decision, it is therefore essential to be informed about the risks, both for the mother for her child.Currently in France, later pregnancies represent about 2.5%. This trend increases, for example, the number of births among women aged 40 to 44 has doubled in 10 years ! Life expectancy rose sharply, the fourth age has just appeared and the company has changed the status of women, who in their forties are just entering the second half of life. Still, on a physiological level, they become too old to medically conceive a child. It is therefore essential to be aware of the risks: failure, pregnancy complications, maternal health, or risk to the two lives.
Fertility falls with age
The longer we wait, the longer the risk of realizing that it can no longer grows. Indeed, it is undeniable, fertility decreases with age and drops dramatically after age 40. These women therefore increased use of reproductive technologies. Alas, although they are increasingly sophisticated, they provide only poor results in this population. Despite strict surveillance, the risk of pregnancy twins (twins) and additional complications during pregnancy increases.
A high rate of miscarriages
The late pregnancies often result in miscarriages. More than half are due to fetal malformations and the percentage of chromosomal abnormalities (mainly trisomy) in the embryo increases sharply with age of mother at age 38 it is 1.6%, while it reached 4% at 42 years.
Prematurely, low birth weight and other complications
A design in old age may cause the appearance of previously silent diseases, including diabetes and hypertension, responsible for complications for both mother and fetus. Furthermore, an alteration of exchanges via the placenta increases the risk of premature birth or low birth weight. These children usually require extra care and will soon medical zed birth with consequences for their physical and psychological health.
