Top maternity doctor: rising age of first motherhood is irreversible

‘I believe society’s altered. I don’t think overall health professionals can influence that adjust,’ says the president of the Royal School of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Photograph: Linda Nylind for the Guardian

The shift in direction of older motherhood is irreversible and it is pointless to warn girls to have their kids by the age of 35 or risk their babies suffering a assortment of health care problems, in accordance to Britain’s prime maternity physician.

Dr David Richmond’s relaxed view of the growing number of ladies delaying motherhood until finally their late 30s or early 40s contrasts sharply with the acute concern expressed in latest many years by senior physicians, such as the government’s chief healthcare officer.

“I believe it [the trend] is irreversible due to the fact of growing equality in the social, specialist, financial [and] corporate environment we live in. If you place a man in that scenario, they would do exactly the identical. I fully respect that place.

“Older girls getting to be mothers is a trend that is right here to remain, I feel,” Richmond mentioned.

The average age of motherhood across all age ranges has been creeping up, and now stands at 29.8 years in England and Wales. The average age of fatherhood has also been growing.

“All I can do is say, ‘Hang on, we’re the ones at the obtaining end and these are the difficulties that we then face,’ and which is a challenge,” Richmond additional. A lot of girls hold off beginning a household until finally their mid-30s or later on due to the fact they want to feel safe professionally and financially ahead of taking maternity leave, explained the doctor, who is the president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

The most recent Office for National Statistics information exhibits that the number of dwell births in England and Wales to ladies aged 40 or in excess of has risen more than fourfold from 6,519 in 1982 to 29,994 in 2012 – out of the 700,000 infants born that yr. Similarly, the variety of infants born to girls more than the age of 50 has a lot more than doubled in four many years from 69 in 2008 to 154 in 2012.

Later on maternity can decrease a woman’s chances of conception and involve a higher chance of miscarriage, a a lot more complex labour, and health care intervention at the birth.

Nevertheless, most women who leave it late know the hazards they are working, the physician believes.

“I would have thought that that message [about the likely hazards] is out there. I feel people who are delaying their pregnancies are by and massive nicely aware of what’s occurring. These who delay, both males and girls, are probably well conscious of what’s happening. I think it is a aware selection,” Richmond mentioned.

Asked about obstetricians previously telling girls in strong terms that they should have their family members prior to their fertility began to decline in their mid-30s, he stated: “Education may help arrest the trend, [but] informing them of the information, that can only support a little. I consider society’s modified. I never think [well being] professionals can influence that societal modify.”

Richmond’s pragmatic, comprehending mindset contrasts with the stance of the college he heads. Its statement on maternal age in current times has emphasised that “there is an urgent need for greater public data on the problems surrounding later maternity” and that “later maternal age is an emerging public overall health concern”. It also stressed that even though ladies must be supported in their existence choices, “both women and society need to be aware of the feasible difficulties that older mothers may experience”.

Study last December from the respected Karolinska Institute in Sweden located that the hazards of older motherhood in contrast with those face by younger mothers – stillbirth, a better chance of premature birth and minimal birth fat – started in girls as younger as 30-34, and not just those in excess of 35, as had previously been imagined.

Richmond was also unconcerned by the additional costs typically concerned in the treatment of older mothers. The continuing trend of older motherhood “is going to be a monetary burden and a healthcare burden. But the variety of women in excess of forty getting infants is a fraction of the whole, so it really is probably an inconsequential financial burden,” he stated.

Top maternity doctor: rising age of first motherhood is irreversible