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16/09/2005
Women warned of risks of late pregnancies
Women who delay having children until their late-thirties are storing up health risks for both themselves and their babies, experts have warned.
A report, published in the British Medical Journal, by fertility specialists in London, warned that women who delayed having children to concentrate on their careers, risked a number of health problems, as well as problems in trying to conceive.
The team of specialists, led by Susan Bewley, a consultant obstetrician at St Thomas’ Hospital, said that the risk of problems such as miscarriage, pre-eclampsia, ectopic pregnancies, infertility and foetal and chromosomal abnormalities, increased in women over the age of 35 and rose dramatically in those over 40.
However, the number of women having children in their late thirties and forties to have children is increasing.
The authors of the report said that the best age for having a baby remained between 20 and 35 and warned that women who waited to have children were playing ‘Russian Roulette’ with their chances of having a healthy and successful pregnancy.
The team said that the blame lay with society, employers and health planners, who encouraged women to ‘have it all’ and concentrate on building a successful career, before having children.
The authors also warned that the availability of IVF treatment could also “lull women into infertility” as they believed that they wait for a suitable partner, while concentrating on their careers, achieving security and a comfortable living standard.
However, they warned that IVF had a high failure rate and that there was also a risk of multiple births, if the treatment was successful.
The report also warned that men also risked problems if they waited until later life to have children, as not only did sperm counts deteriorate with, but there were also risks of schizophrenia and genetic disorders in children with older fathers.
The report urged doctors and healthcare planners to help women to achieve “biologically optimal childbearing” and encourage women to have children earlier.
(KMcA/SP)
A report, published in the British Medical Journal, by fertility specialists in London, warned that women who delayed having children to concentrate on their careers, risked a number of health problems, as well as problems in trying to conceive.
The team of specialists, led by Susan Bewley, a consultant obstetrician at St Thomas’ Hospital, said that the risk of problems such as miscarriage, pre-eclampsia, ectopic pregnancies, infertility and foetal and chromosomal abnormalities, increased in women over the age of 35 and rose dramatically in those over 40.
However, the number of women having children in their late thirties and forties to have children is increasing.
The authors of the report said that the best age for having a baby remained between 20 and 35 and warned that women who waited to have children were playing ‘Russian Roulette’ with their chances of having a healthy and successful pregnancy.
The team said that the blame lay with society, employers and health planners, who encouraged women to ‘have it all’ and concentrate on building a successful career, before having children.
The authors also warned that the availability of IVF treatment could also “lull women into infertility” as they believed that they wait for a suitable partner, while concentrating on their careers, achieving security and a comfortable living standard.
However, they warned that IVF had a high failure rate and that there was also a risk of multiple births, if the treatment was successful.
The report also warned that men also risked problems if they waited until later life to have children, as not only did sperm counts deteriorate with, but there were also risks of schizophrenia and genetic disorders in children with older fathers.
The report urged doctors and healthcare planners to help women to achieve “biologically optimal childbearing” and encourage women to have children earlier.
(KMcA/SP)
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