You’ve blown your forty candles for a few months, or a few years. Yet the desire to have a child pinches you. The call of motherhood is increasingly pressing. What are the benefits, dangers and disadvantages of a late pregnancy?
Significant benefits: stability and maturity
A child after 40 years provides many joys. If you are in good physical condition, you will be well from childbirth, in addition to living the indescribable happiness of giving life to a small being that you cherish, and who will cherish you.
In addition, couples who host a baby after the age of 40 years are generally more emotionally and financially stable. They realized their dreams and reached a degree of maturity sufficient to deal with this major upheaval. In addition, they have accumulated experiences that will serve them for the education of their offspring. Finally, having a child keeps young people’s hearts and minds.
However, and although it is increasingly common, if you decide to have a child at 40 years of age, you must know the stakes.
Fertility: a great challenge
To become a mom is unfortunately not achieved by snapping fingers, especially after 40 years. The possibility of pregnancy declines significantly because of age. According to the latest data from the government of Canada, the chances of getting pregnant are 53% to 40 years, while they are 91% to 30 years.
Many risks
Despite the increase in life expectancy and medical advances, being pregnant at forty years has significant dangers to the health of the expectant mother. In fact, a late pregnancy increases the risk:
— Develop gestational diabetes.
— Gestational hypertension.
— to suffer from pre-eclampsia.
— to have a placenta previa: an anomaly that is characterized by rupture and partial detachment of the placenta at the end of pregnancy or during childbirth.
An increase in the number of miscarriages
Between 25% and 30% of pregnancies will end in miscarriage among women aged 40 years. At 43 years, the probabilities are 40%. It usually occurs during the first 12 weeks of gestation, sometimes later. A problem of development of the fetus, the uterus or its cervix, or even a hormonal deficiency can be at the origin of the phenomenon.
However, if warning signs (pain, brown or red losses, nausea, less sensitive breasts) occur in the second or third trimester, the doctor may intervene and impose you a rest that will benefit you to continue The Adventure of motherhood.
Childbirth-related Complications: prematurity and Caesarean section
From 40 years, women have one in three chances to give birth prematurely. Baby will have to fight for her survival. And in some cases, premature delivery can lead to complications in child development.
Another consequence of late pregnancies turns out to be caesarean section. Statistics indicate that one in two women, who is in their first pregnancy at 40 years of age, uses caesarean section. It is more difficult to recover from childbirth.
What about baby?
If a late pregnancy has difficulties for the expectant mother, it also causes dangers in the unborn infant. It is possible that the latter may be carrying a chromosomal anomaly, such as Down syndrome or that it suffers from a cardiac or congenital malformation such as diaphragmatic hernia and hoof feet. Unfortunately, the risks are significantly higher in the mother fortysomething.
Nevertheless, be aware that the blood tests, the examination of the nuchal clarity performed during the early pregnancy ultrasound (i.e., between the 11th and 13th week) and the 2nd and 3rd trimester ultrasounds can be used to detect a majority of chromosomal anomalies or of malformations.
Age-related disadvantages
You may find that you no longer have the same resistance and patience as you did at twenty years of age. Add to that the anguish. Indeed, many women, and a few men, wonder about their ability to cross the generational divide well. Will I be able to live up to my teenager’s expectations when I find myself in the middle of menopause? Will I understand him, evolve with him? If you are open-minded, it is likely that you will succeed in keeping pace. If you do not, you will have to think before you think about procreation.
In conclusion…
Of course, the dangers and difficulties increase according to age, but sometimes the age also makes it possible to foresee the pregnancy in a more positive and balanced way. If you choose to jump and have a child in their 40s, make sure you have a close medical follow-up and be attentive to all signs from your body and uterus. You may also need to change some lifestyles to offer you and your future baby the ideal conditions to complete your life project.
That said, many moms who arrive in their 40s admit that the coming of their little baby is the greatest joy that life has given them…
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