How old is to old to have a baby ?

[VegasAngel]

Date: 2/26/2007 9:19:43 AM
Author: ephemery1
Not sure if this was mentioned earlier, I may have overlooked it... but the likelihood of genetic abnormalities increases significantly with the mother''s age. Here is a chart outling the risks of Down syndrome. Definitely something to be aware of if you are planning to wait until your 40s to conceive! Your chance of having twins also increases with maternal age.

Father''s age does not appear to have as much of an impact, although there is some research being done to determine whether advanced paternal age may be linked to autism... so far, they have found some indications of this.

As for all the other stuff, I wondered whether English might be the OP''s second language also... wording just seemed a little ''off''. Let''s hope so!

According to the National Association for Down syndrome, "80% of babies born with Down syndrome are born to women younger than 35. The average maternal age is 28 years old." The likelihood of a woman under 30 years of age giving birth to a child with Down syndrome is less than 1:1000, but increases the older the woman gets (see chart below), with an incidence of about 1:112 at 40 years of age.

An annual occurence of Down syndrome of about 9% is seen in women 35 years of age or older, but about 25% of babies with Down syndrome are born to women in this age group. 20-25% of babies conceived with Down syndrome survive past birth.

 

[diamondfan]

the statistics with Downs and younger women are that women over 35 tend to have amnios or CVS and then might terminate the pregnancy, so they give birth to fewer babies with Downs. The numbers are funny that way because it is rarer for younger women to have a baby with Downs but since they might not screen for it, they are more likely to give birth to the baby, which affects percentages.

 

[mrssalvo]

that makes complete sense diamondfan. i wonder too what the %''s are if women are having baby #3 or 4 when they are 35 are they in the same risk catagory as someone who has never had a baby?

 

[Mrs.soontobealfonzo]

So am I in the clear before 35 ?

 

[ephemery1]

Date: 2/26/2007 1:55:51 PM
Author: diamondfan
the statistics with Downs and younger women are that women over 35 tend to have amnios or CVS and then might terminate the pregnancy, so they give birth to fewer babies with Downs. The numbers are funny that way because it is rarer for younger women to have a baby with Downs but since they might not screen for it, they are more likely to give birth to the baby, which affects percentages.

Really good point... there are also more complications in advanced maternal age pregnancies that may result in miscarriage of babies that would otherwise have displayed genetic abnormalities. But based STRICTLY on statistics, the vast majority of babies in general are born to women under the age of 40... so that 80% Down syndrome figure makes complete sense when you consider that overall, MORE than 80% of all babies are born into that under-40 category. So naturally the majority of DS cases would be found there, even without taking terminations into account!

So if you are an individual wanting to know your risks, it is most pertinent to look at individual odds based on actual birth statistics according to maternal age. If you are 30 years old, your chance of giving birth to a baby with Down syndrome is approximately 1 in 1000... if you are 30 years old, your chance is 1 in 100.

I've definitely had WAY too many statistics classes in my lifetime... I'm actually starting to enjoy the stuff.

 

[diamondfan]

Date: 2/26/2007 2:54:46 PM
Author: Mrs.soontobealfonzo
So am I in the clear before 35 ?

since there are many other factors, not just maternal age, that affect the fetus, the answer, broadly, is no. You are in a better place, risk wise, if you are younger, but there are still random things that can occur, and all of the chromosonal issues can and do happen no matter what the age of the mother. It is just shown that the older one is, the eggs are older (we never make new ones, we are born with all the eggs we will produce and they do age with us)...good prenatal care, not drinking or smoking, taking a good prenatal vitamin, etc...all these things are vital, but still NO guarantee about the health of your baby. Have you had any genetic counseling or screening done?