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Why is it not scary now to get pregnant and give birth after 40 years
Nowadays, the stereotype “after 30 is already completely old-born” can make anyone laugh. 40 years is not a limit for a long time for women who want to give birth to a child. We asked the experts why you shouldn’t be afraid to get pregnant at this age.
In the 21st century, more and more women become mothers for the first time after forty years.
The latest advances in reproductive medicine work wonders and help even in hopeless cases. “The main thing is the desire to become a mother. If this desire is great, then we, doctors, for our part, will do our best to realize it, ”says Maria Mikhailovna Ovchinnikova, head of the infertility treatment and IVF department of the KG Lapino. However, many women over the age of forty become pregnant on their own, without the help of doctors.
Many uninitiated people in the topic of late motherhood may have a question: “Why is all this necessary?” Psychotherapist Zoya Andreevna Bogdanova argues that from the point of view of family psychotherapy, after forty years, many women complete their family cycle – raising their first child.
“By this age, many are faced with the fact that now they do not know how to realize their potential and where to use energy. This is why so many families decide to have a child at an early age. They are driven by the family paradigm, the goal of which is to have children, ”the specialist is sure.
Now many of the fair sex give birth to their first child after forty years. According to the psychotherapist, this is the influence of emancipation.
The time in which we live does not put pressure on the foundations, and we have the right to first invest in ourselves and our development, and only then start a family.
By the age of 40-45, a woman has already taken place as a person and, most likely, she has her own housing and a stable income. She can give a lot to the child. “When girls give birth early, they take little part in raising a baby due to the fact that they put a lot of effort into self-realization, study or work. It happens the other way around: they give all of themselves to the child, but there is no strength left for themselves, ”says Dr. Bogdanova.
What you need to know
According to the psychotherapist, before deciding on late motherhood, first of all, you need to understand if childbirth is not threatening your health. You also need to think about the child’s future – how will the big age difference affect his upbringing? When deciding to become a parent after forty years of age, couples must be mindful of their responsibilities. It is necessary to assess the capabilities of your body, not only in order to bear the child, but also in order to have the strength to raise him.
Every year, the supply of eggs is getting smaller.
“The main problem is the decline in fertility due to the woman’s age. This process depends on many factors, but the most significant are the deterioration in quality and a decrease in the amount of oocyte production. This is a natural process that cannot be corrected, ”said Olga Nikolaevna Baikova, a gynecologist and reproductive specialist at the Medsi Clinic on Solyanka. It is because of the small reserve of ovaries (their number decreases every year) that the incidence of pregnancy decreases. Chronic diseases can also play a role, which interfere with the conception and bearing of a child.
Olga Nikolaevna recalls that maternal age significantly affects the frequency of spontaneous abortions. Chromosomal abnormalities are the main cause of spontaneous abortions in the first trimester. 91,3% of miscarriages are caused by chromosomal abnormalities in a group of women over forty. The incidence of genetic abnormalities in the fetus after thirty-six years of age increases in any pregnant woman. It does not matter whether the child was conceived naturally or with the help of IVF. So, in patients aged forty to forty-five years, the percentage of the frequency of pregnancy in a natural way ranges from 12,9 to 27,2%, and the percentage of the frequency of childbirth in this case is from 4,5 to 17%. In patients from forty-five years of age and older, these indicators range from 0 to 10,5% and from 0 to 1,2%, respectively.
Do not despair
“When planning a pregnancy, you need to undergo an examination of your body. In addition to cytology and infections, you need to check the hormonal profile, as well as visit a therapist, cardiologist, mammologist. It is necessary to do an ultrasound of the internal organs, thyroid gland, vessels of the legs. It is advisable for a partner to visit a urologist for examination and testing, ”the doctors advise.
If no abnormalities are found, it is the turn of the basal tests that assess the ovarian reserve. They suggest a study of the level of estradiol, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) in the blood serum. However, Olga Nikolaevna reminds that the older a woman is, the less often implantations are performed (embryo implantation into the uterine lining is a process that occurs during any pregnancy, spontaneous or with the help of IVF).
The effectiveness of IVF also becomes significantly lower with age.
It is believed that the main difficulty in the onset of pregnancy is due to genetic factors that affect the number and quality of oocytes. Modern medicine has in its arsenal several methods with which it is possible to increase the number of eggs and improve the quality of the embryos themselves. Among them, Dr. Baikova calls reproductive assisted hatching (a technology that allows you to make a small hole in the shell of the embryo to facilitate its “exit” and attachment to the endometrium); different protocols for ovarian stimulation; genetic research for the selection of the most viable embryos – preimplantation genetic analysis (PGA); ICSI / IMSI (sperm injection directly into the egg); cryopreservation (or “freezing” of eggs, embryos) in order to be able to use them for fertilization at a later age.
Medicine helps even those women who have run out of oocytes
When the eggs in the body have run out (and this is inevitable), there is no longer an opportunity to give birth to your biological child. However, there is also a solution to the problem! “You can become a mother with the help of assisted reproductive medicine programs using donor oocytes (eggs obtained from a young and healthy woman). Surrogacy, which many people think about in this case, is a solution to the issue of carrying a pregnancy, and not to the issue of missing eggs, ”Dr. Ovchinnikova is sure. Olga Nikolaevna is also optimistic: according to her, oocyte donation ensures successful embryo transfer in more than fifty percent of cases.
Medicine will do everything for you
Doctors are sure: there is nothing wrong with giving birth in adulthood. The main thing is to go through all the examinations and be constantly monitored by specialists. Assisted reproductive medicine is the safest and fastest way to get pregnant and have a healthy baby. “Now, within the framework of the IVF program, there is an opportunity to carry out genetic analysis for all chromosomes at the stage of embryos before transferring them into the uterine cavity. This study makes it possible to use a known healthy embryo, thereby reducing the frequency of early abortions, ”comments Maria Mikhailovna.
The main thing, according to doctors, is to exclude chronic diseases.
According to the experience of Maria Mikhailovna, there are no special differences in the course of pregnancies in late and early reproductive ages in the absence of severe concomitant pathologies.
All possible risks are associated not with the fact of the onset of pregnancy, but with concomitant diseases in the patient.
“Women in the modern world, as a rule, undergo regular examinations by specialists. This allows you to prevent, rather than cure, existing diseases. If a lady who wants to conceive has chronic diseases, do not despair. In this case, it is necessary to develop tactics of pregnancy management by her obstetrician together with a specialized doctor, ”the expert emphasizes.
Dr. Ovchinnikova argues that, nevertheless, patients of older reproductive age more often than young women have complications: gestational diabetes mellitus, gestosis (increased blood pressure and impaired renal function), pathology of the feto-placental complex (detachment of a normally located placenta, previa placenta, placental insufficiency and, as a consequence, fetal growth retardation and or fetal hypoxia).
Don’t underestimate the risks of late pregnancy
All these risks are certainly justified if a woman cannot imagine her future life without a child. According to Zoya Bogdanova, many of her clients give birth to their first children after forty years: “Selfishness appears -“ I want for myself, I want everything, ”and someone gives birth for their parents. Some have a meaning in life, others realize themselves in this way, and still others get rid of loneliness. All this is normal, I speak as a woman and as a specialist psychotherapist. ” At the same time, those who decided on late motherhood may face the condemnation of society. Zoya Andreevna insists that one should not pay attention to ill-wishers: with the help of negativity, they just project their problems onto others.
Medicine works wonders, and biological criteria for a woman’s age are no longer as important as personal ones (maturity, ability to provide for a child). Of course, do not forget that the number of eggs decreases every year. But here, too, the latest advances in reproductive medicine will come to your aid. The main thing is not the age at which you gave birth to the baby, but whether you will become a good mother to him.
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