Pregnancy Past 40 Lies Fertile Ground
Is 40 the new 30?
Frankie Branham of Dallas had her only child, 10-year-old daughter Leta, when she was 40.
I never worried about what I might have been missing in terms of my social life,
Ms. Branham says.
If you keep up with this country's childbirth trends, you might think so.
Britney Spears' headlong rush into young motherhood aside, the face of the American mother is beginning to look increasingly middle-aged.
Advanced maternal age
is the medical terminology applied to any woman who is 35 or older when she gives birth.
Because women's fertility lessens with age, and the incidence of pregnancy complications and birth defects increases, waiting to start a family can be a risky proposition, and one that grows more precarious with each passing year.
Still, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine reports that approximately 20 percent of American women are waiting until after age 35 to have children.
And despite the risks, more and more women are giving birth on the far other side of the 40-year milestone.
Though the numbers are still relatively small, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that the number of mothers giving birth after 40 has increased by almost 70 percent in the last 15 years.
Read more: Pregnancy: Past 40 lies fertile ground
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