Giving Birth After 40

Mid-Life pregnancies are statistically on the rise. The CDC (Center For Disease Control) reports that pregnancies between the ages of 40-54 are at their highest since 1968. There are many factors as to why women are waiting longer to have children. Women are choosing to pursue higher education and work on their own careers.

As such, higher educated and working women are getting pregnant later. These later in life pregnancies do come with risks. There is an increased risk of pregnancy induced hypertension, gestational diabetes and peripartum cardiomyopathy which is a very serious and potentially fatal heart condition.

The risk of delivering a child with chromosomal abnormalities also increases with age. Although our bodies are best prepared to have babies in our early 20’s, the demands and expectations of society have changed making later in life pregnancies far more common than in the past. Could this trend do more harm than good?