Motherhood – there’s no bigger bliss known to a woman! Motherhood symbolizes warmth, patience, care, sacrifice and immeasurable love. You may associate these adjectives and more to a mother. When a woman chooses to embrace motherhood, she dives in whole heartedly, giving in her entire known persona to become an individual she didn’t know she was capable of becoming. In these times, there are innumerable women who are opting to embrace motherhood in their 30’s. Here we look at what it means to “Getting Pregnant After 30”.

Does age really matter when it comes to getting pregnant?

Look around and you’ll see that women are getting pregnant across varied age groups, ranging from 20’s to 30’s and even 40’s. Women who have kids when they are still in their 20’s are blessed with a bountiful of energy and novel sometimes even crazy ideas at parenting and you may literally grow old with your child too! 30’s is a wonderful time too given that a woman has had some time to herself and her career and hopefully some with her partner too. Women who opt to get pregnant in their 40’s may lie low on energy but are secure financially to give their brood an extravagant upbringing. Every decade in a woman’s life in terms of getting pregnant and embracing motherhood, brings advantages and disadvantages. Experts have determined certain age brackets to be a better time to get pregnant but it is spot-on to say that a woman’s health largely depends on her lifestyle choices and well-being. An older woman taking precise care of her health can far outdo her younger counterpart at times!

Which is the best age to get pregnant?

• Pregnancy in 20’s: A woman’s body is at its prime best physically to bear a child in her 20’s. Her eggs are young, making the chances of chromosomal abnormalities in her baby minimal and chances of miscarriage are as low as to 12%. Her skin is supple making it easier for her to regain her pre-pregnancy body and her body’s high on energy making it easy for her to cope up with the physical rigors of pregnancy and parenting. However emotionally and in terms of maturity, this can be a difficult age to bear and care for a young one.
• Pregnancy in 30’s: A woman’s natural fertility begins to decline as she proceeds in to her 30’s. Both chances of a miscarriage and cesarean births also build up in this age bracket pregnancy. However a woman who decides to have a baby in her 30’s is positioned better career wise and well equipped to handle parenting and her post pregnancy body.
• Pregnancy in 40’s: Both the risk of miscarriages and chromosomal abnormalities build up largely in women who choose to bear children in their late 30’s and 40’s. Also a woman’s fertility nosedives during this period. A woman who embraces a late motherhood is however financially and emotionally far better placed than her younger counterparts.

Chances of getting pregnant after 30

The older a woman gets the longer she may take to conceive. This is chiefly because the quality of her eggs goes down with age. For a man however infertility may be an issue not before he turns 50. Doctors generally advise a couple to try for a year to conceive naturally (its 6 months in case of women over 35). The rate of natural conception drops to about 63% in women who are in their 30’s. [caption id="attachment_3493" align="aligncenter" width="367"] Image source - reproductivefacts.org[/caption]

Tips for a healthy pregnancy after 30

• Meticulous pre -natal care and tests is mandatory.
• Consumption of pre–natal vitamins and healthy nutritious food during pregnancy.
• A regular exercise routine as advised by the doctor.
• Healthy lifestyle choices including quitting in on smoking /drugs and limiting alcohol intake.
• Maintaining an ideal weight during pregnancy and keeping a close watch on the weight gain during the three trimesters.
• Keep yourself safe from pets and undercooked meat.

Risks and benefits of pregnancy after 30

Risks to Pregnant Mother After 30

When you are pregnant in your 30’s you are likely to counter the following risks; with age 35 being considered as the age when your fertility begins to dip:

• Dip in fertility: As you progress in to your 30’s your fertility slowly begins to dip but the silver lining is that women who may need to opt for an IVF can expect a success rate that’s close to 30%
• Cesarean Delivery: Women who deliver in their 30’s are twice as likely to undergo a cesarean delivery for unknown reasons.
• High Blood Pressure and Gestational Diabetes: The risk of gestational diabetes and high blood pressure is twice as higher in pregnant women over the age of 35 years.
• Work life balance: It is most likely that women who embrace motherhood in their 30’s have had a flourishing career. Once they have children they may find it challenging to strike a harmonious work life balance or even return to work.

Risks to the baby when you are 30+

• Miscarriage and still birth: Rate of miscarriage is close to 18% in women who conceive in their 30’s. Still births are also twice as high in the case of women falling in this age bracket.
• Multiple Births: Chances of a multiple birth increases greatly in women who conceive in their late 30’s. Even in the case of fertility treatments this is true. This is chiefly due to the hormonal changes that affects the ovaries.
• Birth Defects: As the quality of a woman’s eggs declines, she is far likely to have a child suffering from chromosomal defects or Down’s syndrome.

Benefits Of Getting Pregnant After 30

Practically turning parent in your 30’s is a wise choice. Not only does the woman know herself and her body, she is also emotionally well poised to begin her journey into parenthood. By this age both she and her partner are well settled both financially and emotionally and are generally in the best frame of mind to begin a family. They are well read to understand the rigors of having a family and may also be equipped with some practical experience of handling kids of their relatives and friends. Women this age are generally a wiser version of themselves from their 20’s and are also open to challenges thrown their way by high in energy little bundles. So go ahead and enjoy both your pregnancy and motherhood to the fullest in whichever age it comes. Happy Motherhood! :)