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| Mothers Over 40 Give Birth To Healthier
Children. |
Children born to mothers of over 40 are healthier
and brighter than those of younger women and less likely have accidents or need
hospital care to survive, a study has found.
This latest research may be a piece of good news
for the rising number of women who are delaying motherhood.
Previous studies have highlighted the growing
infertility rates for older women and the greater risk of them developing
diabetes and pre-eclampsia (a disorder of widespread vascular endothelial
malfunction and vasospasm that occurs after 20 weeks’ of pregnancy).
The research appears to show advantages for older
mothers once they have given birth, possibly due to their greater experience
and maturity.
Researchers at the Institute of Child Health,
University College London and Birkbeck College, London, said their findings
showed older mothers can make better parents.
Head of the team, Dr Alastair Sutcliffe who worked
on the study, said negative publicity surrounding the rise of older mothers was
based on the physical risks of pregnancy and childbirth.
According to him, there is a clear evidence that
there are more desirable outcomes for children of older mothers compared with
younger ages, adding that older women’s children are probably better off.
In the above study, the team looked at 1,100
children born to women aged 40 and over, compared with 38,000 children born to
younger women. The children’s ages ranged from nine months to five years.
Children of older mothers were less likely to be in
accidents or need hospital admission, and were no more at risk of obesity.
While older mothers might generally be more prone to risks possibly because
they are less active and unable to run after their children, they may also be
better at spotting and avoiding potentially risky situations, the study
revealed.
Dr. Abraham Inneh, a gynecologist explains: “Child
bearing is a function of reproductive cycle and how fertile a woman is. The
wellbeing and health of the child depends on maternal health, genetic makeup,
environmental and social economic status”.
Basically as a woman gets older her reproductive
cycle wanes, i.e there is reduction in ovulation which entails production of
eggs, there is also reduction in menstrual flow which is also part of d
reproductive cycle, he said.
There are a lot of things to consider when a woman
decides to delay child birth till the age of over 40 because there are
advantages and disadvantages because old age in a woman brings about decline in
the quantity of eggs produced, which could lead to infertility, even if
fertile, old age also brings about decline in d quality of eggs produced,
leading to abnormal babies with chromosomal defects, Inneh points out.
According to the gynecologist, women of old
maternal age are at risk of having miscarriages, premature deliveries and
macrocosmic babies. However with d advent of modern and technology based
medicine, these effects of age on child bearing as well as health of the child
are negotiable.
Inneh further explains that by assisted
reproductive techniques such as Invitro Fertilisation (IVF), older women can
get pregnant, and by technology based screening the health and wellbeing of
baby and mother can be monitored. Monitoring include ensuring adequate
nutrition, environmental and socioeconomic stability.
He emphasised that there are risks associated with
babies of older women because in some cases their children stand the risk of
genetic and chromosomal abnormalities like down syndrome and kleinfeter
syndrome (a chromosomal condition that affects male sexual development. Males
with this condition typically have small testes that do not produce enough
testosterone, which is the hormone that directs male sexual development before
birth and during puberty).
But if older mother’s pregnancy is well managed
with the modern day and technology based medicine, studies have shown that
their children get a better start in life than younger mothers babies.
One disadvantage of younger mothers’ babies have is
the fact that they are prone to illnesses and diseases in life because their
mothers tend to be naive and most times ill prepared for pregnancy and child
bearing,he stated.
In this situation, they suffer more from
nutritional deficiencies, such as iron deficiency, anemia, vitamin B-12 etc
because they are naive with mother craft, he said.
Older
mothers tend to be more dedicated to parenting than younger mothers as such
their babies get adequate care and baby support, they are also more educated
and more empowered economically to give their babies the basic needs. Their
babies could be referred to as precious babies. -Lola Adesiyan
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