more defects known as congenial malformations.
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Babies Born to Moms Over 35 May Have Lower Risk for Certain Birth Defects
Women in their late 30s and over are often told that the odds of having a baby with a birth defect greatly rises. But a new study is showing that the myth is indeed opposite and that when it comes to certain types of physical abnormalities the risk is many times lower. A study shows that women aged 35 and older face a lower risk of having children with abnormalities known as congenital malformations, or physical defects that are not caused by abnormal chromosomes. This study could be major reassurance to women who are afraid and hesitant of having a baby when they are older. Because the myth is so wide spread and known, many women are even deciding not to have babies at all which could cause major disturbance in our birth rates around the world. The researchers study about 76000 women and found that older mothers, aged 35 and older, were 40% less likely than younger mothers to have a child with one or
more defects known as congenial malformations.
Hearing about this new finding makes me as an male, more confident in not rushing to have a baby. The myth of having increased chances of birth defects is one thing would've made me consider having an baby early depending on the age of my wife. Reading this article has given me major reassurance, as well as many women, the confidence to have babies over 35 years old.
more defects known as congenial malformations.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I am not sure where the original idea of having a baby at an older age can cause problems but this study I'm sure will be reassuring to many women. Our society has moved away from the mentality that you have to marry younger and start having kids. So for the family that wants to wait this is reassuring that they're no health risks for the babies
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting because I've always been told that it is dangerous to have children when I'm older the age of 30-35 because it puts me and the baby at a higher risk. I want to wait to have a family until I finish my undergraduate and graduate degrees, so this is reassuring to me.
ReplyDeleteIn anatomy we were told that later in life the risk of complications becomes greater when having a baby. This may be true in general but the reasons could vary. For instance, it could be that most women over 35 are in worse health and/or don't receive proper prenatal care because they were not expecting to be pregnant. There are other factors that could skew the data on this and this article may be attempting to point that out. Science is a strange thing in that one year one thing is true and the next year the opposite is true.
ReplyDelete