Child bearing AGE????? question

[Pauline]

Can anyone tell me what age can a woman safely have a baby? Ive heard all sorts of things but i am not sure.Seemingly the older you are the more risky it is.Any replies to this topic would be very much appreciated, Its for my friend.

Thanks.

 

[nydoll23]

Originally Posted by Pauline Can anyone tell me what age can a woman safely have a baby? Ive heard all sorts of things but i am not sure.Seemingly the older you are the more risky it is.Any replies to this topic would be very much appreciated, Its for my friend.Thanks.


Thanks to the improvments and advancements in medical fields,women are having babies at 50! there are plenty of women that have babies at 40 and deliver healthy babies.A doctor really can advice you more,but i definetly think its safer than years ago!

 

[Pauline]

Originally Posted by nydoll23 Thanks to the improvments and advancements in medical fields,women are having babies at 50! there are plenty of women that have babies at 40 and deliver healthy babies.A doctor really can advice you more,but i definetly think its safer than years ago!

Thanks NYDoll! Yes i agree with you it's safer nowadays. Its definaltey something to think about. I heard that women shouldn't have babies past 35 but i dont know how true this is.Thanks for your answer:icon_love

 

[LuckyMe]

I work in an ob-gyn office and we have people 15-45 having babies. I do think more woman are having babies at a later age. However, people who are having babies at a later age have to go through much more tests than usual. Almost anyone over 40 is recommended to have an amnio around 16 weeks to test for Downs and an AFP is highly recommended (alpha fetal protein) to test for neural tube defects.

 

[Pauline]

Originally Posted by LuckyMe I work in an ob-gyn office and we have people 15-45 having babies. I do think more woman are having babies at a later age. However, people who are having babies at a later age have to go through much more tests than usual. Almost anyone over 40 is recommended to have an amnio around 16 weeks to test for Downs and an AFP is highly recommended (alpha fetal protein) to test for neural tube defects. WOW that's comforting news! Do you think 40 is an OK age to have a baby or 35plus? Please be honest with your opionins.Do the DR'S at your work think 40 is safe or do you think they 'prefer' women to have children younger? Thanks.

 

[envymi]

It also depends on how healthy a woman is and how she's taken care of her body as she gets older. I've seen women over 40 look like they're in much better shape healthwise than some that are 20.

 

[Geek]

Originally Posted by LuckyMe

I work in an ob-gyn office and we have people 15-45 having babies. I do think more woman are having babies at a later age. However, people who are having babies at a later age have to go through much more tests than usual. Almost anyone over 40 is recommended to have an amnio around 16 weeks to test for Downs and an AFP is highly recommended (alpha fetal protein) to test for neural tube defects.


OoooOOh! that AFP test is evil. Well it was for us, at least. We had that with our first baby(Cameron). Reija come up with a "positive" on that test. So we went off to genenic counseling and such. So friggen scary to think that we fell into the 1 in 1200 category for a "down's syndrome" baby. But We opted NOT to have the amnio and everything was fine. Check out our AFP F.A.Q. on our other site that we own here for it: http://www.kidsdirect.net/BD/pregnancy/afp.htm

 

[Andi]

as far as I know any pregnancy over the age of 35 is considered a "risk pregnancy"

this might be an older "rule" though, I read it in one of my books, and 35 doesn´t seem that old to me.

 

[girl_geek]

Just a few years ago I was still learning in my college psychology class in high school that having babies after age 40 greatly increases the risk of Down's syndrome and birth defects. LuckyMe's post seems to support that idea, if older women are required to have more tests during pregnancy ... plus for most women, it gets harder to get pregnant the older you get ... for some women their hormones start fluctuating at age 30 affecting their fertility; for other women it may not start til 35 or 40 or even later. But with all the fertility treatments we have now a days, that may not be much of an issue any more, if you can pay for the treatments that is!

I personally hope to have my last child by my early 30's ... but I know sometimes life just gets in the way and things don't go as planned!

 

[girl_geek]

Originally Posted by Tony(admin) Check out our AFP F.A.Q. on our other site that we own here for it: http://www.kidsdirect.net/BD/pregnancy/afp.htm Cool, I didn't know you had a baby forums site too ... might have to check that out in a few years

 

[Mac@40]

I agree with Regina, for women over 40 require more tests than usual. Also, whether young or old, those who are hypertensive and/or diabetics would be considered a "risk factor" during pregnancy.

 

[Geek]

Originally Posted by girl_geek

Cool, I didn't know you had a baby forums site too ... might have to check that out in a few years

Yeah, the forums are not nearly as active as they are here tho on MUT. But the site has almost 2000 pages of info there.

 

[Jennifer]

i agre with what envy.

fyi, my grandma had my mom was she was in her early 50s in a 3rd world country and everything was fine. it's funny because my mom grew up and is close in age with her nieces/nephews lol

 

[Pauline]

Hi and thanks for everyone's answer's and that link Tony, thanks.

No i am not thinking of having a baby at the moment but it would be good to think about this for ther future.As much as i would love the idea i dont think i could ever bring a child into this world,especially if it meant the child would have depression etc.,I would have to be very well indeed before i even considered it but i did chat to my friend about it and its good to talk about these things.Who know's what the future will hold

Also it must have been very distressing having to have tests and make descisions about tests etc.