Congratulations on your pregnancy! With birth rates soaring for the over-40 set, there's never been a more popular time to be an older mom. Fortunately, there's also never been a better time — or a safer one. A mom-to-be in your age bracket has nearly the same odds of having a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby as her much younger counterparts. Why "nearly"? As we move into the golden years of baby-making — "advanced maternal age," in doctor-speak — our chances of pregnancy complications creep up ever-so-slightly.

First, we have to deal with the fact that our eggs have been around for longer. Every woman on Earth was born with a lifetime supply of eggs. Though the vast majority continue ripening as we age without incident, each passing year very slightly increases the risk that those eggs will have certain chromosomal abnormalities. For instance, while a 25-year-old mom-to-be has a one in 1,340 chance of delivering a baby with Down syndrome — a genetic condition caused by the presence of an extra copy of chromosomes — a 40-year-old's odds are one in 85. 

While the chances of having a completely normal baby are still in your favor, you'll be scheduled for routine prenatal testing (like NIPT or quad screening and nuchal translucency screening) that can identify Down syndrome and other chromosomal abnormalities, just to be on the safe side.

Second, we have to deal with the fact that older bodies are, in general, somewhat more susceptible to a variety of health issues, including high blood pressure and diabetes. That puts older expectant bodies at a slightly greater risk for the pregnancy-related forms of these conditions (preeclampsia and gestational diabetes) — and which gives your practitioner another reason to pay closer attention to your pregnancy. Preterm labor is also slightly more common in over-40 moms (as it is in expectant moms under 17), yet another reason for all the extra scrutiny.

Other risks the advanced maternal age set might have to confront include slightly longer labor and a higher chance of C-section or assisted delivery (vacuum extraction or forceps, for example), probably due to having poorer muscle tone and less flexible joints.

The good news is that if you start off your pregnancy in good shape and keep yourself in tip-top form throughout (and you know how to do that: eating well, exercising regularly, taking your prenatal vitamin and getting all those tests your practitioner recommends), you'll do just as well as your younger pregnant pals. And, once the delivery is behind you, you'll have years more experience and wisdom to offer that precious little person you've brought into the world.

Here's to a healthy pregnancy at any age, Heidi Murkoff