Research has shown that women who are over the age of 35 when they give birth have a high risk of complications for both the mother and baby. Some of these complications include low birth weight, preterm delivery, stillbirth, gestational diabetes, and the need for induction of labor. Low birth weight can mean trouble staying warm, and feeding, and is associated with poor performing lungs and infection. Preterm delivery is also one of the causes for low birth weight, as well as other complications, so this risk is a pretty hefty one. Gestational diabetes occurs when hormones produced during pregnancy somewhat block the delivery of insulin to the body, or when the body is just unable to make enough insulin. Left untreated, gestational diabetes can lead to other complications such as preeclampsia, hypoglycemia, and an extra-large baby.
As women age, the risk for chromosomal abnormalities and DNA mutations also increases. These include Downs Syndrome, which happens in 1 in every 240 pregnancies after 35, Edwards Syndrome, and Patau syndrome. In recent years, More technologies such as chromosomal microarray analysis and whole-exome sequencing can diagnose more genetic conditions on samples obtained through amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling, including many disorders that cannot be screened for non-invasively.
I know many women who have given birth after the age of 35. Everyone has different reasons for waiting until they are older to have children, one of these reasons is the desire to have a career. I think that having a career and having a child should not be mutually exclusive. I believe that the the average workplace needs to do a better job of providing adequate maternity and paternity leave so that having a child, which is a totally normal and rather important part of life, doesn’t negatively affect a person’s ability to do a job they love or make money to support themselves.
Gestational Diabetes and Pregnancy. (2019, October 28). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/pregnancy/diabetes-gestational.htmlVan den Veyver, I. B. (2016, October 28). Recent advances in prenatal genetic screening and testing. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5089140/
Harris, Robinson, & Regan. (2000, November 1). risks associated with pregnancy in women aged 35 years or older. Retrieved from https://academic.oup.com/humrep/article/15/11/2433/635079
Low Birth Weight. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?contenttypeid=90&contentid=p02382