Читать книгу Infants and Children in Context - Tara L. Kuther - Страница 164

U.S. women are becoming pregnant at later ages than ever before. As shown in Figure 3.4, since 1990, the pregnancy rate has increased for women ages 35 to 39 and 40 to 44 and decreased slightly for women in their 20s (Hamilton et al., 2017). Does maternal age matter? Women who give birth over the age of 35, and especially over 40, are at greater risk for pregnancy and birth complications, including miscarriage and stillbirth, than are younger women. They are more vulnerable to pregnancy-related illnesses such as hypertension and diabetes, and their pregnancies involve increased risks to the newborn, including low birthweight, preterm birth, respiratory problems, and related conditions requiring intensive neonatal care (Frederiksen et al., 2018; Grotegut et al., 2014; Kenny et al., 2013; Khalil, Syngelaki, Maiz, Zinevich, & Nicolaides, 2013). The risk of having a child with Down syndrome also increases sharply with maternal age, especially after age 40 (Diamandopoulos & Green, 2018; Hazlett, Hammer, Hooper, & Kamphaus, 2011) (see Figure 3.5).

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Figure 3.4 Birthrates by Age of Mother, United States, 2017

Source: J. A. Martin et al. (2018).

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Figure 3.5 Maternal Age and Down Syndrome

Source: Data are from Mai et al. (2015).

Although risks for complications rise linearly with each year (Yaniv et al., 2011), it is important to realize that the majority of women over age 35 give birth to healthy infants. Differences in context and behavior may compensate for some of the risks of advanced maternal age. For example, longer use of oral contraceptives is associated with a lower risk of giving birth to a child with Down syndrome (Nagy, Győrffy, Nagy, & Rigó, 2013).