Getting Pregnant in Later Years

If you are 35 or older, you and your baby may be at an increased risk for problems. Regarding the risk to you, most mature women who are in good health should experience no additional problems. Even so, pregnancy in some mature women can initiate or worsen high blood pressure, heart disease, or kidney disease.

Although your health problems may initiate or worsen fetal abnormalities (such as hypertensive disease and fetal growth restriction), the foremost risk for women who are 35 or older is an increased risk for genetic abnormalities in the baby, such as Down syndrome. This increased risk is found in all mature women regardless of race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. Such women should be offered genetic counseling and, if desired, prenatal diagnosis by chorionic villus sampling or amniocentesis.

Review Date: June 29, 2001
Reviewed By: Peter Chen, M.D., Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.


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