A woman's peak reproductive years are between the late teens and late 20s. By age 30, fertility (the ability to get pregnant) starts to decline. This decline happens faster once you reach your mid-30s.
Geriatric pregnancy is a rarely used term for having a baby when you're 35 or older. Rest assured, most healthy women who get pregnant after age 35 and even into their 40s have healthy babies.
Depending on your health and your baby's health, scheduling your baby's birth may be best. But scheduling birth a little early for non-medical reasons can cause problems for you and baby. If your pregnancy is healthy, it's best to stay pregnant for at least 39 weeks and wait for labor to begin on its own.
Pregnancy risks are higher for mothers older than age 35. Lifestyle choices. Smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol and using illegal drugs can put a pregnancy at risk.
At age 30, fertility slowly starts to decrease. Most women don't have trouble early in the decade. In fact, even as you inch closer to your late 30s, your chance of getting pregnant within a year is around 65 percent. Age 37 is when fertility decreases more rapidly.
Down syndrome occurs in people of all races and economic levels. The risk increases with the mother's age (1 in 1250 for a 25 year old mother to 1 in 1000 at age 31, 1 in 400 at age 35, and about 1 in 100 at age 40).
After age 35, there's a higher risk of pregnancy-related complications that might lead to a C-section delivery. The risk of chromosomal conditions is higher.
While it may take a bit longer to get pregnant if you're 35 or older, the average time it takes to conceive is still high. Women under 25 have a 25 percent chance of conceiving per cycle, compared to 15 percent among women between the ages of 35 to 39 (the rate drops to 5 percent by the age of 40).
Semen quality and age
According to a study conducted in Israel, a man's sperm is in optimal conditions between the ages of 30-35. And in general, after age 55, sperm quality is found to be at the lowest quality.
Despite the growing trends mentioned above, two children still seems to the ideal number. An actual study revealed one to two children is the ideal number for “happiness”, but with two you don't have to deal with the aforementioned only child issues.
What's the best interval between pregnancies? To reduce the risk of pregnancy complications and other health problems, research suggests waiting 18 to 24 months but less than five years after a live birth before attempting your next pregnancy.
A gap of 3 years or more greatly reduces the chances of sibling rivalry. By this time the older child is secure in him or herself and quite independent. In addition, the mother's body is fully recovered from the challenges of pregnancy and birth of the first child.
Women who first gave birth around puberty developed more health problems. The longer the first birth was delayed, up to the age of 34, the fewer the health problems now. After that age, they rose again. Health benefits started at the age of 22, peaking at 34.
Women who become pregnant in their 30s and early 40s can have safe, healthy pregnancies, says Ellie Ragsdale, MD, director of fetal intervention at UH Cleveland Medical Center. But they do face a higher risk of some problems.
There's no way to prevent Down syndrome. If you're at high risk of having a child with Down syndrome or you already have one child with Down syndrome, you may want to consult a genetic counselor before becoming pregnant. A genetic counselor can help you understand your chances of having a child with Down syndrome.
Older women are more likely to miscarry or have a stillbirth. They have a greater chance of developing gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, and of delivering a baby who is very small. Then there can be problems with labor, resulting in a higher chance of cesarean birth.
Current supplementation policies designed to prevent neural tube defects may incidentally prevent Down's syndrome, provided a sufficiently high dose of folic acid is used.
You may have heard that a woman's risk for complications during pregnancy goes up after age 35. The fact is that most women in their 30s and 40s have healthy pregnancies and healthy babies. To ensure a healthy pregnancy, you should do what any woman should do: Prepare for your baby with healthy lifestyle choices.
As men age, their risk of fathering a child with Down syndrome may increase—the older the man, the more likely that the process of spermatogenesis, or sperm production will go awry, leading to sperm that contain errors like an extra chromosome.
While delivering at age 35 and older is officially considered “advanced maternal age,” Dr. Kalish notes that in reality, there's no “magic number” for being at-risk for complications. “A healthy 38-year-old could have an easier pregnancy than a 20-year-old who has multiple medical issues,” Dr.
1 Yes, your odds of conception at 33 are not as good as they were at 28. At around age 37, fertility starts to decline at a much more rapid pace. Research has found that in any given month your chances of getting pregnant at age 30 are about 20%. Compare that to your odds at age 40, which are just 5%.