Women become mothers at increasingly advanced ages. Although the best age to be a mother, in biological terms, has been determined to be 25 years old, the truth is that due to the current lifestyle, the age of being a mother has been delayed in recent years. In Spain, according to data from the INE, the average age of first-time mothers is 32.2 years and 30% of women have their first child over 35 years of age.
Being a mother after 35 is related to higher risks in pregnancy and childbirth, but not everything is negative. According to a recent study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, being a mother after age 35 improves a woman’s mental abilities . Women who have their first child after this age do better on tests of mental acuity, problem solving, and verbal skills.
The older the age, the more complications in pregnancy
It is increasingly common for women to become mothers after the age of 35, an age at which a certain job and socioeconomic stability has been reached that encourages them to live the experience of motherhood. But after that age, the biological clock is no longer so precise and the chances of being a mother are decreasing.
Being a mother at an advanced age increases the chances of complications during pregnancy and delivery, as well as the risk of miscarriage and chromosomal abnormalities in the baby.
It is believed that almost 30 percent of pregnant women over 35 suffer from some perinatal pathology . They are more prone to developing complications in pregnancy, among them the most common are gestational diabetes, a problem that involves serious risks for the mother and the baby, hypertension, the main cause of prematurity, and uterine bleeding.
After the age of 35, the probability of having a premature birth also increases (9.6% of deliveries over the age of 35 are premature) and complications during delivery such as caesarean sections or instrumented deliveries, compared to younger women. Not to mention an increased risk of the fetus suffering from some type of chromosopathy.
But not everything is bad
It is not the first time that the advanced age of the mother has been related to certain benefits for her health. In 2014 we knew of a study that ensures that women who are mothers over 33 years of age could live longer. Specifically, they were twice as likely to live to be 95 or older than women whose last child was born before age 30.
Now, we know about another benefit of late motherhood. A study conducted by researchers at the University of Southern California, led by Dr. Roksana Karim, based on the responses of more than 830 postmenopausal women, has found a positive relationship between being a mother beyond 35 and mental abilities .
One reason could be because the increase in hormones that occurs during pregnancy could affect brain chemistry , and that the older the mother, the longer these changes in her brain will last. This translates into better cognitive function in advanced ages .
Photo | iStockphoto
Via | Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
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