Article: Michelle Nel from Your Pregnancy magazine
Image: over 30?

Stanway maintains that women are choosing to do what men have always done ? start families in their 30s or 40s. And women can conceive right up to menopause, though the chances of conception after forty are only about 20%. In spite of declining fertility, about 30 000 women over 35 give birth in Britain every year. Around 500 are over 45 and in 1993, 77 women over 50 gave birth.

Some people still consider 30 to be old while others believe that they are young at 40. According to British author Maggie Jones, not all women actively choose older motherhood; many simply don't meet the right man until they are 35 or more. Whatever the reason for leaving motherhood till later, the overwhelming response to older motherhood is positive. First time older mothers generally feel they have greater patience because of their age, and women with previous children feel they are more relaxed because they know the ropes.

Is pregnancy more difficult when you're older?

As recently as the 1920s women routinely gave birth as many as 15 times. No wonder by the time they were in their later childbearing years their 20th confinement was dangerous. A fit, well-nourished 40-year-old is an altogether different proposition from her wasted and worn predecessors. Again and again doctors say that if an older woman is fit and healthy, her pregnancy is more likely to be trouble-free than a younger woman who does not look after herself. Diabetes is a worry. As is high blood pressure, but they can equally be a problem in very young women and those who are overweight. And funnily enough, it is very young women who are more likely to suffer stretch marks, varicose veins and bad backs.

Special care

Careful eating and judicious exercise are important three months before conception and in the early months, advises Armstrong. Women of all ages should look after themselves; there are no particular needs that an older woman has in pregnancy unless through stress and poor eating she has developed a "leaky gut". In this case she won't be absorbing nutrients well and will need more supplements, especially folic acid, calcium and iron. Diets high in sugar, alcohol, caffeine, wheat and dairy products can irritate the gut lining and promote thrush. Older women who have been taking the Pill for some time, or have had regular courses of antibiotics, are often more prone to absorption problems.

An improved diet is a vital factor in boosting fertility. British nutritional therapist Dr Marilyn Glenville has had success with dietary changes alone. Zinc, magnesium and vitamin A (or its safer form betacarotene) are essential for sex hormones. So are essential fatty acids, vitamin E and herbs as agnus castus and milk thistle. It has also been shown that women receiving a good multivitamin not only boosted fertility but reduced their chances of having a baby with a congenital problem than those who did not.

Good care includes good wholefoods (organic if you can, to cut down on pesticides), cutting down on pollutants (smoking, alcohol, caffeine, prescription and other over the counter drugs unless you have a chronic condition such as epilepsy), exercising judiciously (doing slow stretching such as yoga, tai chi or pilates) and taking specific supplements including folic acid, calcium, iron and vitamin C. Avoid x-rays, solvents, pesticides and other chemicals. Get plenty of rest and sleep before and during pregnancy ? it helps your baby grow. Check that you have rubella antibodies. If not, have an immunisation before trying for a baby. Rubella can cause severe abnormalities in a developing foetus.

Prenatal Tests

96 percent of babies are born healthy, even to older women. Screening tests, made available through a variety of blood tests, indicate a probability or risk of chromosomal abnormalities. You may then consider having diagnostic test ? amniocentesis and chorionic virus, sampling to detect genetic and chromosomal problems. The miscarriage rate is about 1 % for amniocentesis and 4 % for CVS. Most Physical defects are not linked to age. Some, like cystic fibrosis, are inherited. But most Physical defects, especially heart and limb defects, are completely unexpected. Others, like spina bifida, can be reduced by taking folic acid during pregnancy.

Age and Fertility

Fertility begins to fall after the age of 25 but the decline is slow until 30 and then it decreases quite rapidly from 35 onwards. It is thought that after 40 the pregnancy rate drops to about 20 % because, in many, one in every three cycles does not produce an egg and ovulation becomes less frequent as the woman approaches menopause.

There is however a strange phenomenon associated with the fertility of women which has long been known as the "last fling" of the ovary. There is a sudden and unexplained rise in fertility at about 39 which accounts for many an unexpected pregnancy in the late 30's and usually the reason why the mother of teenage children suddenly finds herself expecting again.

Having Seconds

Having a second child (or more children) after 35 can be different from having your first because you're in familiar territory. I had my first child at 34 and my second at 40. I found the second pregnancy far more tiring. With my first child I was still jetting of on assignments and renovating the house while working full time. With my second baby I had none of the rosy glow one gets in the second trimester; instead I looked haggard. It's hard to tell whether this was because I was older, or I was simply coping with a bigger load, having spent the previous seven years carrying, birthing and raising my firstborn. Certainly coping with a small baby the second time around is much easier; you are confident and your baby relaxes too. However you have to be extremely organised to cope with two or more, and resigned to the fact that often the wheels will simply come off because of multiple loads and sibling rivalry.

Advantages of later parenthood