Tatyana Butskaya, doctor, medical blogger and Advocate of the Fetus, told Woman’s Day readers about the pros, cons and peculiarities of an interesting situation, depending on the number in the passport.
In general, there are very few healthy women today, and therefore the concept of the best age for pregnancy is “spreading”. Today, a 30-year-old woman who has looked after herself well all the years can be healthier than an 18-year-old woman who started drinking and smoking at the age of 14. But in general, the most dangerous thing is to give birth either too early, before the age of 17-18, or very late, after 50.
So what to expect from pregnancy and childbirth at different ages? Early pregnancies are dangerous because a young girl is neither physiologically nor psychologically ready for such a load on the body. If the formation of the body, and especially its reproductive system, has not yet been completed, then too early pregnancy can end in about the same way as after 50 – all sorts of complications on the body, early miscarriages, premature or traumatic childbirth. Moreover, too early pregnancy, most likely, is not planned, which definitely leaves its imprints not only on its outcome, but in general on the further upbringing of the child by a very young mother. And pregnancy and childbirth after 40 years are complicated by the fact that the body’s reserves begin to gradually deplete, and not only reproductive. Indeed, many organ systems are involved in pregnancy.
As a “Fetal Advocate”, I believe that the best period for the birth of the first child, both from a physiological and psychological point of view, is from 20-25 to 30-35 years.
This period is considered ideal for pregnancy and childbirth in terms of the state of the body. It is likely that in this age period a woman has a stable hormonal background, a good ovarian reserve, chronic diseases have not yet had time to attack the body, a lot of strength and energy.
What’s especially important? The eggs with which the girl was born are still “fresh”, environmental factors, lifestyle factors, infectious diseases, chronic diseases, natural aging have not yet had time to influence them. Accordingly, the risk of having a child with any pathology is also minimal. Childbirth at this age, most likely, should also go well.
It is another matter that today at 18-25 years old women are more and more busy with getting an education, building a career, arranging their own lives – and the birth of their first child is less and less planned at 18-25 years old.
The concept of “old-born” has long been in the past. Today, the average age at which a woman gives birth to her first child has shifted to the interval of 25-30 years, or even 30-35. The fertility of women under 35 is still quite high. Another thing is that at the age of 30-35, pregnancy is still better to seriously plan by checking your health. There may be infectious diseases that a woman may not even know about, chronic diseases, including gynecological ones. Lifestyle by the age of 30-35 also begins to affect the body. But to improve the situation before the age of 35 is in any case much easier than later!
It is still easy to get pregnant and give birth to a healthy child on your own without involving the methods of assisted reproductive technologies – ART – just by patching up the body a little, during this period. And parenting from 25 to 30 years old is most often already desired, mature and conscious.
By the age of 40, the previous lifestyle has a strong effect on the state of the body. In general, a woman’s fertility during this period decreases, but at this age, the individual characteristics of the body will rather strongly influence the successful outcome of pregnancy and normal childbirth. If a woman went in for sports, ate properly, did not smoke, did not wear out her body with constant stress, and does not have excess weight, then she is much less likely to receive “surprises” from the body during pregnancy in the form of exacerbations of various diseases. But in general, during pregnancy in this age period, the risk of developing, for example, hypertension and diabetes mellitus, increases significantly.
But, of course, there are no age-related indications for a cesarean section. Caesarean is done exclusively for indications related to the state of the body. Another thing is that by the age of 40, the number of such indications objectively increases, so the percentage of cesarean sections at this age can also increase.
The birth of the first child after 40 will surprise no one today. All thanks to ART and modern medicine. Yes, the risks of having children with pathology, miscarriage and complications increase significantly, but coming to your motherhood after 40 is the norm today. And the percentage of successful pregnancies and childbirth at this age is high. Nevertheless, it should be borne in mind that after 40 years, the “biography” of a woman’s reproductive organs may already be volumes. Any treated or untreated inflammatory, infectious diseases, interrupted pregnancies affect the condition of the internal genital organs and, as a result, the bearing of the child and the process of childbirth. Changes in the tissues of the reproductive organs and a decrease in muscle elasticity can make childbirth more difficult and more traumatic. Postpartum recovery can be long.
It is worth considering the fact that the father of the child is most likely also no longer a young guy and has his own history of health problems. But you can reduce the risk of having a baby with developmental abnormalities after 40 with the help of prenatal screenings, IVF and other modern diagnostic procedures.