Advanced Maternal Age And Healthy Pregnancy

Can You Age Affect Your Ability To Get Pregnant And Have A Healthy Baby?

Getting Pregnant after 35 is becoming very common and many new time moms are over 40. Your age should not discourage you from dreaming to have a healthy and happy pregnancy and baby.

I think that advanced maternal age is an old term that needs updating as more and more women are getting pregnant with no complications later in life. Today, 1 in 5 women has her first child after age 35.

The good news is that most have no problems getting pregnant, have healthy pregnancies and healthy babies!

Studies show that advanced maternal age can bring some pregnancy risks like high blood pressure, gestational diabetes, preterm babies, still births, low birth weight, C-section, congenital birth defects, and genetic birth defects.

These risks are calculated by the medical profession as a statistic analysis and may or may not take into consideration certain factors that are very important.

The age of your eggs depends more on your biological age than your chronological age.

Not all women over 35 have poor egg quality and not all women under 35 have good egg quality.

Factors like, poor diet, stressful life style, alcohol consumption, smoking, lack of minerals, vitamins and antioxidants all contribute to poor egg quality.

That's why taking care of your reproductive health before getting pregnant is even more important if you are over 35, but you should not make you feel like you are too old to have a baby.

Pregnancy Over 35

There are many fabulous moms-to-be who have healthy babies and happy lives and are over 35.

Yes, it is true that women over 35 may need more time getting pregnant, but it is also true that most women are also very fertile during this time of their life, especially if they are not concerned with being told that they are in the advanced maternal age group.

Advanced maternal age does seem to affect fertility in women who have a poor diet, have been on birth control for many years and have a stressful life style. When these factors are improved, many couples achieve pregnancy naturally.

Advanced maternal age is just a medical term and maybe a factor that every couple should take into account when starting a family, but it should not prevent you from trying or worse make you feel like you are not capable of conceiving a healthy child.

In cultures were women give birth well into their late 40 and it is culturally acceptable, there is less concern about advanced maternal age and infertility. Of course these cultures also have a less stressful life style, eat a healthy diet and do not have a sedentary life like us.

A woman over age 35 should consult her doctor if she has not conceived after six months of trying. Studies suggest that about one-third of women between 35 and 39 and about half of those over age 40 have fertility problems. Most of these fertility problems can be treated successfully with natural health.

While women over age 35 may have more difficulty conceiving, they also have a greater chance of having twins.

What About Advanced Maternal Age And Birth Defects?

Biological Versus Chronological Age

Women over age 35 are at increased risk of having a child with certain common birth defects involving congenital birth defects, genetic birth defects and chromosomal defects like Down Syndrome.

Your obstetrician or midwife will recommend a more detailed prenatal ultrasound in order to determine how your baby is growing and if any abnormalities are present. There are also a number of prenatal tests you will be offered if you are over 35 and pregnant.

These are Amniocentesis, Chorionic Villus Sampling (CVS), Maternal Serum Screening (MSS), and Nuchal Translucency (NT) Screening.

If you are concerned about your age and pregnancy risks, the best way to approach this, is to relax and take a deep breath, most women over 35 carry healthy babies especially if they take time to have a healthy and natural preconception period of 4 months.

What statistics do not keep into consideration is the state of health of both parents at conception.

In fact, what seems to prevent genetic birth defects and chromosomal disorders is a preconception diet which is high in antioxidants like Zinc, Selenium, Coenzyme Q10, vitamin C, A, and E.

More conclusive studies are required but it does make sense that by preventing the genetic material (egg and sperm) from becoming damaged with nutritional support of minerals and vitamins, the likelihood of a birth defect can be reduced.

This is very important, because antioxidants keep the eggs and the sperm genetically intact and prevent genetic mutations.

The importance of natural vitamins on the health of the future baby is vital because they can help repair DNA, the genetic material inside of your cells that carries the information of the phenotypic expression of the baby.

This expression can be determined by the environment in which you live, that is why detoxification before getting pregnant is also important.

Epigenetic studies have shown that the health of the next generation can be affected by the life style of the parents. This means that your life style can literally affect either positively or negatively the modulation of certain genes in your children.

This new science is involved in studying how diet, stress and environmental factors can affect gene expression in as little as one or two generations.

What About The Risk Of Miscarriage And Advanced Maternal Age?

Most miscarriages occur in the first trimester for women of all ages, but studies show that the risk of miscarriage is high in cases of advanced maternal age.

Here what plays a very important role, in preventing miscarriages in pregnancy, is a healthy hormonal system before pregnancy.

There are many ways to achieve this with homeopathic medicine and acupuncture, before and during pregnancy.

Homeopathic medicine helps maintain a healthy hormonal balance during pregnancy and also can treat the constitutional weakness that a woman has either inherited or acquired during her life as a result of trauma, injuries, or infections.

Acupuncture helps maintain a healthy energy flow through the meridians preventing Chi deficiency by nurturing the reproductive tract.

What About Pre-Existing Conditions And Advanced Maternal Age?

Advanced maternal age is often linked to high blood pressure and diabetes that can affect pregnancy. For example, if diabetes is not controlled, it can contribute to birth defects, miscarriage, while high blood pressure can affect fetal growth by slowing it down.

During pregnancy, there are certain medical conditions related to maternal age which are gestational diabetes, placenta previa (the placenta covers part of the cervix causing bleeding during delivery and c-section), premature birth (delivery before 37 weeks of pregnancy), and stillbirth (death of the fetus before 20 weeks of pregnancy).

When planning a pregnancy, not matter at what age, it is always a good idea to have a preconception visit with a medical physician to ensure that there a no medical conditions that can affect or prevent a healthy pregnancy.

Also, if parents are concerned about genetic birth defects, a genetic consultant will be able to run some tests and determine the risk in each individual case. This is usually only recommended if there is a reason to be concerned based on a family history of genetic birth defects.

For most couples, practicing a life style that increases fertility is the best way to go. Most importantly do not forget to take vitamins like folic acid in order to prevent certain known serious neural tube defects.

Also, do not take more than 10,000 IU of vitamin A during pregnancy as this vitamin in high dosage can become toxic to the developing baby. Also, cosmetics containing Acutene should be avoided.

How To Reduce Pregnancy Risks And Birth Defects Associated With Advanced Maternal Age

Today, most women in their late 30s and 40s can look forward to healthy pregnancies and prevent a high risk pregnancy. Women of all ages can improve their chances of having a healthy pregnancy when they:

1. Have a preconception check-up with a health care provider.

2. Get early and regular prenatal care.

3. Take a natural prenatal vitamin supplements.

3. Begin pregnancy at a healthy weight.

4. Do not drink or smoke, even second hand smoke!

5. Do not use over the counter drugs. If you have to, talk to your pharmacist and let her/him know you are pregnant or trying to get pregnant.

6. Do not have x-rays or dental work that involves using toxic products or mercury amalgams.

7. Eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables.

8. Take anti-oxidants like Vitamin A, E, C, Pantothenic Acid, Zinc, and Selenium.

9. Drink and cook using only purified water.

10. Don not eat undercooked meat or change a cat s litter box. Both are possible sources of toxoplasmosis, an infection that can cause birth defects.

11. Do not eat shark, trout, tuna, swordfish, king mackerel tilefish or seafood. These fish can have high amounts of mercury. It is all right for a pregnant woman to eat a limited amount of fish including, salmon, pollock, sole, tilapia, catfish and very limited amounts of canned light tuna.

12. Make sure you are tested for rubella (German measles) and chickenpox before pregnancy. If you choose to be vaccinated, wait four months before trying to conceive.

13. Relax and have a happy attitude. Your emotional wellbeing can also affect your pregnancy. The mental state of the mother can affect the health of the child!

Pregnancy Is Not A Disease!

Pregnant women who are classified as having advanced maternal age are not sick, this is not a disease, so do not get alarmed, just do your best to have a healthy life style to ensure a healthy pregnancy.

It is important to keep in mind that the increased risk, even for the oldest women, is modest. Enjoy your life, your pregnancy and your baby.

Planning A Pregnancy Over 40? Start Right!

When planning to get pregnant your diet, your ovulation cycle, your life style are all very important. Your ability to get pregnant can be affected by many factors.

If you want to know more about how to get pregnant fast & naturally over 40, Lisa Olson's story will inspire you. She wrote an eBook that clearly teaches all the Do's and Dont's of how to get pregnant.

I really like it because it is easy to follow and provides a real plan to help you get pregnant starting from your diet, your fertiliy signs and all the important things you need to know before conceiving a baby.

This eBook gives you all the best tips to dramatically increase your chances of conceiving a healthy baby fast.

Fertility Blessings!

Questions On Advanced Maternal Age

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