What Is The Best Age To Become A Mother?
A well-established concept in medicine is that from a biological point of view, the ideal for pregnancy is under 25 years of age and there are certain risks associated with pregnancy over 35 years of age. However, studies show that there are many positive aspects to having children at an older age, and becoming a mother after the mid-thirties is becoming more common. So what is the best age to become a mother or can one specific age even be defined?
Fertility decreases with age
Women were long advised to have children as early as possible, but over the years, the age standards associated with motherhood have changed in many ways, depending, of course, on culture and geographical location. Experts have long estimated that a woman is most fertile at the age of 24-25, giving her about a 20 percent chance of getting pregnant in a month.
As age increases, fertility decreases so that the chance of a woman in her thirties getting pregnant is about 15% and at the age of 35 about 8%. At the age of 40, the chance of getting pregnant is only 2%. Although it is possible to become pregnant at an older age, there are certain risks to the fetus and mother from the age of 35-40.
Risks of becoming a mother over the age of 35
Today, a woman’s life is not limited to taking care of home and family. More and more women are studying, working and pursuing careers and want to postpone having children for one reason or another. Some women do not want children at all, which is also perfectly acceptable and normal today.
Being a mother over the age of 35 is associated with an increased risk of complications during pregnancy. Medical statistics show that 30% of women who become pregnant at the age of 35 suffer from some form of complication during pregnancy. One in ten births starts too early. Fortunately, most of the risks can be controlled with the help of a doctor, and most often, the pregnancy of a parent giving birth also has a happy ending.
The most common complications of pregnancy in people over 35 are:
- High blood pressure. About 10 percent of pregnant women experience high blood pressure at some point in the waiting period. The risk increases when a woman is 35-40 years old.
- Premature birth. About 9% of pregnancies over the age of 40 end in preterm birth. This is mainly due to the inability of the uterus to carry the fetus.
- Chromosomal aberrations. As a woman’s body ages, the eggs begin to lose their ability to divide, which can cause genetic problems. The most common genetic change related to maternal age is Down syndrome.
- Gestational diabetes. The risk of gestational diabetes doubles in women over 38 years of age.
What is the best age to become a mother?
In their twenties, many women and men still feel too immature to be parents, while in their forties, women often worry about the risks of pregnancy. So is 30 years the best age to become a mother?
Today, financial security is really important to many women. Women know how to achieve independence in this area of life and fight for equality at home as well, so that the responsibilities of building and maintaining a home are shared with the man. The socioeconomic balance that women seek is usually achieved at the age of about 34, making this age a time when a woman often begins to consider becoming a mother.
The truth, however, is that the best age to become a mother is each woman’s own personal choice, as only the person herself can know what is best and most sensible for her in terms of her own life. There are women who are ready to be a mother at a very young age, while others may experience maternal feelings only later.
