Benefits of Pregnancy After 40
Pregnancy takes a large toll on any woman’s body. Hormonal changes combined with the nutritional needs of a growing baby in the womb can bring about a large amount of both stress and physical changes.
While the Mayo Clinic and other medical experts agree that both babies and mothers are statistically less likely to experience pregnancy complications if the mother is 35 or younger, there are some advantages to pregnancy after 40 as well.
Financial Stability
Many parents decide to have their first child later in life because they will likely be more financially stable in their 40s compared with their 20s. Student loans and other burdens typical in the early to mid-20s are frequently resolved by the time the 40s roll around, and both parents are in higher positions career-wise than they were when they started their jobs and careers.
Extra income allows parents the opportunity to more easily handle the medical and supply costs a new baby brings and makes it more feasible to plan for college and other expenses as the child gets older.
Children Lead More Stable Lives
Pregnancy writer Patrica Hughes has written several articles about how children of older mothers are statistically less likely to get pregnant in their teenage years, less likely to serve jail time and more likely to go to college. Studies from John Hopkins School of Medicine and Columbia University have concluded similar results that the more mature parents result in more mature children who live more stable lives with fewer financial or legal problems.
Baby Still Likely to be Healthy
In spite of some increased odds of Down’s syndrome and autism that comes with mothers older than 40, the overall odds of the baby being perfectly healthy remain high. Apgar scales are numerical appraisals given to infants to check their general wellbeing.
The scale depends on imperative signs, for example, skin shading, heart and respiratory rate, reflex reaction, and muscle tone. The Apgar numbers for babies born to mothers older than 40 were generally comparable to those of younger mothers.
