Am I too old to get pregnant?

Choosing to delay pregnancy is an increasingly popular choice for women today, deciding first to establish careers and gain life experience. Affordability, mental preparedness and social norms keep most from trading in their birth control pills for basal thermometers too early, but is there such a thing as starting too late? At what cost does a later-in-life pregnancy come, and who pays the price?

The optimal age
There is no perfect age for pregnancy, and the right time varies from woman to woman. Socio-economic factors most commonly dictate whether a woman is too young to be a mother, but if she waits too long, it becomes a race against the biological clock.

"Physically, your body is most prepared for pregnancy under the age of 35. After that, certain risks increase rapidly with age," explains Dr. Suzanne Wong, Deputy Chief of Obstetrics at St. Joseph's Health Centre in Toronto. If you're considering entering motherhood in your late thirties, you should be aware of what those risks are and what they could mean for you and your baby.

Risks to consider
Hypertension
"Hypertension, or high blood pressure, can develop with serious consequences for both mother and child," Dr. Wong says. "If it's not carefully monitored it can stunt fetal growth, which could lead to low birth weight, or cause Placental abruption, when the placenta separates from the uterus." Nutrients and blood would cease to reach the fetus, causing death or disability in severe cases.

Gestational diabetes
"The best course of action is to identify it in a timely fashion in order to prolong the pregnancy for the greatest duration possible," Dr. Wong explains.

With gestational diabetes, frequent consultations with a dietitian and nutritional monitoring will help reduce the risk of complications, including excessive birth weight, delivery trauma to both mother and baby, and a higher risk of long-term obesity and glucose intolerance for the child. According to the Canadian Diabetes Association, a woman's risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life also increases.  

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