Postponing having a Baby until in their 30s and 40s

Because of the economic crisis today, more and more woman are opting to delay their pregnancy until their 30s and 40s. While there are certainly financial and social advantages to such arrangement, the concern in a scenario like this is naturally the increased chance of pregnancy complications. Simply put, the older a woman gets, the poorer the quality of her eggs becomes, and the greater the possibility of problems related to conception and childbirth. Such problems are:

• Increased risk of miscarriage (up to 30 percent for pregnancies at age 40)

• Increased risk of fetal prematurity and low birth weight

• Increased risk of fetal chromosomal abnormalities, e.g., Down's Syndrome

• Increased risk of ectopic pregnancy (i.e., pregnancy outside the uterus)

• Increased risk of developing diabetes and hypertension during pregnancy

• Increased risk of difficult labor

• Increased risk of difficult conception