Getting early and regular prenatal care can increase the chance of having a healthy baby after 35. If you’re in your 40s, your ob-gyn can refer you to a fertility specialist before you even start trying to get pregnant. Your doctor can refer you to a fertility specialist for an evaluation if needed. This step is usually recommended after 6 months of trying on your own if you’re 35 to 39. If you’re having trouble getting pregnant, you can talk with your ob-gyn. Early diagnosis plus treatment creates the formula for the best possible outcomes. We’ll check your blood pressure at every prenatal visit, and we'll test you for gestational diabetes too. More frequent ultrasounds can measure the growth of the fetus and also look for birth defects. You can choose to have prenatal screening tests in the first trimester, to help you understand your risks for genetic disorders. The good news is we have the tools to detect and respond to pregnancy complications early. Let’s be proactive and take it one day at a time. I like to emphasize to patients that this doesn’t mean that something bad is going to happen during the pregnancy. It’s easy, then, to understand why many women in this age group fear being labeled a “high-risk” pregnancy. Risk increases over time, and your own experience will depend on your personal health history and other factors. Still, it’s not as if you wake up on your 35th birthday as a different person than you were the day before. This is why the 35-year milestone is so special. The farther beyond age 35 you get, the higher the risk of all these conditions. And while pregnancy increases a woman’s risk of developing blood clots ( deep vein thrombosis), this risk is higher for older moms. Then there can be problems with labor, resulting in a higher chance of cesarean birth. They have a greater chance of developing gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, and of delivering a baby who is very small. Older women are more likely to miscarry or have a stillbirth. There’s more to consider about pregnancy past your mid-30s. Meanwhile, the number of eggs you have decreases as you get older, causing your ability to get pregnant to decline. This risk goes up significantly after 35. The longer your eggs have been around, the more likely they are to produce a pregnancy with a chromosome problem that can lead to a condition like Down syndrome. Let that sink in: The eggs that make your babies when you’re 20, 30, or even 45 exist from the moment you are born. Why Age MattersĪs women, we are born with all the eggs we’re going to have. Here’s what I tell my patients about how to approach having a baby in your late 30s and beyond. But having a baby later in life still can be a challenge. That means I’m seeing more and more Kendras in my practice, where I treat women with high-risk pregnancies. Some women may take longer to find their life partner-as was the case for me. Today, women may want a few more life experiences under their belts before they start a family. Now more women are having babies in their late 30s and even 40s. It used to be a big deal for a woman to have her third or fourth child at 35. You’d think that might be it for Kendra-and yet she tells me, “I can’t shake this feeling. Tragically, she lost them in the 18th week of pregnancy. Last year she got pregnant with twins on her own. My patient “Kendra” knows what she wants: To get pregnant again.Īt 46, she is already a mom to four children, two of them grown.
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