With the use of assisted reproduction, the possibility of pregnancy beyond age 50 has increased significantly for women. While ten years ago, we spoke of “late pregnancy” for expectant mothers aged 40, now it is future mothers in their fifties who are asking questions on the pregnancy forums of parenting sites!
The phenomenon affects the majority of Western countries, where future mothers have access to the latest techniques of assisted reproduction. He therefore did not spare Great Britain, going so far as to alert midwives, who are monitoring more and more high-risk pregnancies. The British health authorities therefore looked into the subject and discovered that the number of pregnant women at 50 had more than doubled in 5 years. “Each week three children are born to a mother in her fifties. In 2012, 154 babies were born after these late pregnancies, whereas there were only 44 in 2000 and 60 in 2008” explains the Ministry of Health.
British midwives have sounded the alarm bells because pregnancies at 50 are more complicated than others. Age increases the risk of miscarriageor from ectopic pregnancy. It also increases the risk of giving birth to a child with genetic abnormalities. Finally, the risk of severe disease such as high blood pressure or gestational diabetes, which can go as far as the mother’s death, is much more common in women over 50.
In terms of late pregnancies, it is difficult to establish the degree of risk, but doctors agree on one point: they are not recommended for women with pathologies, diabetes or obesity for example, which could endanger the mother and the child. ‘child.
