In the news ...
Thursday 28 February 2008
Conception rate for women aged 40 and over reaches record high
The conception rate in England and Wales rose between 2005 and 2006 for all women aged 19 and over.
A new report published today by the Office for National Statistics shows that the overall conception rate rose by nearly three per cent between 2005 and 2006 from 76.0 to 78.0 conceptions per 1,000 women aged 15-44.
The rate for women aged 40 and over increased fastest, by over
six per cent from 11.5 per 1,000 women aged 40-44 in 2005, to
12.2 in 2006. During the same period, the under-18 rate fell from
41.4 to 40.7 conceptions per 1,000 girls aged 15-17.
Extracted from Office for National Statistics news release, 28/02/08
Read full news release (PDF) »
Wednesday 12th December 2007
IVF Spanish mother who gave birth at 66 diagnosed with cancer
Maria del Carmen Bousada de Lara, the Spanish woman who became the world's oldest mother when she gave birth to twins just before her 67th birthday has been diagnosed with cancer just under a year later.
Monday 3rd December 2007
Britain's oldest mother - how is she coping?
In July 2006 at 62 years of age Dr Patricia Rushbrook gave birth to a son, JJ. At that point she officially became the oldest mother in the UK. Over a year later, how are they getting on?
Thursday 9 August 2007
Helena Bonham Carter expecting 2nd child at age of 41
Actress Helena Bonham Carter is expecting her second child with film director Tim Burton. The baby is due in December 2007.
Monday 2 July 2007
Sophie, Countess of Wessex expecting 2nd child at age of 42
On 2 July 2007, Buckingham Palace announced that the Countess of Wessex is expecting another baby, due in December 2007.
Tuesday 19 June 2007
Wales sees rise in the number of mothers having children later in life
Figures released by the Welsh Assembly Government from the new National Community Child Health Database reveal that the average age at which Welsh women are giving birth is moving towards 35.
The number of women giving birth after thirty has risen 10% between 2000 and 2005 - the most recent year for which figures are available.
The most common age group for women to give birth in Wales is now 30-34, compared with 25-29 five years ago.
The most detailed study ever produced on births in Wales shows a huge rise in the number of mothers having children in their mid to late thirties, and a 40% increase in the number of women giving birth between the ages of 40 and 44.
More >>
Wednesday 23 May 2007
American woman, 60, gives birth to twin boys
Frieda Birnbaum, 60, yesterday gave birth by caesarian section to twins, named Jared and Jake. Consequently, Frieda, from New Jersey, has earned a place in the record books and the debate on fertility treatment by becoming the oldest American woman to give birth to twins. According to the Star-Ledger newspaper, Frieda underwent in-vitro fertilisation last year in South Africa.
Whilst Frieda and husband, sixty-three year old Ken, are delighted, their two grown-up children, Jason, 33, and Alana, 29, are reportedly appalled. "My mother is too old, for health reasons and for lifestyle," Alana said last night. "I don't think she's thinking about the future - being 80 or 90 and having a kid." Alana said that her brother was worried they would end up taking care of the babies. "He's against it even more than I am," she said.
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Tuesday 6 February 2007
Australian expert predicts that older mums will give birth to new generation
Dr David Molloy, a fertility specialist from the Queensland Fertility Group, Australia, has predicted that Australia will soon see a new generation of children born to mothers aged 50 or more.
Dr Molloy says that technology such as IVF and egg freezing is making it possible for women to become mothers much later in life and that the country's strong economy and low unemployment rate are also a contributing factor.
More >>
Saturday 30 December 2006
Spanish woman, 67, becomes world's oldest mother
A 67-year-old single Spanish woman, Carmela Bousada, who became pregnant after fertility treatment in Latin America, is reported to have given birth to twins, thus becoming the world's oldest mother.
The twins were born by in Sant Pau hospital, Barcelona, by caesarean section early on Saturday morning.
Read interview and see video of Carmela and the twins here >>
Wednesday 25 October 2006
Older mothers risk fertility problems in their daughters
Women who delay having children until later in life are risking their daughters' fertility, say researchers.
Findings from new research were announced at the American Society of Reproductive Medicine in New Orleans yesterday, although doctors behind the study said it was too early to predict the impact of the effect. However, they fear the trend for couples to put off starting families until their mid-30s and beyond will see increasing numbers of young women needing fertility treatment, simply because they were born to older mothers.
Researchers studied data from 74 women who were trying to conceive. They were asked the age their mother when she gave birth to them and the age at when she went through the menopause.
The women were then divided into two groups, those who had successful pregnancies, and those who failed to become pregnant. Results were compared and those who became pregnant had, on average, slightly younger parents, with fathers aged 28.2 and mothers aged 25.7, compared with women who failed to get pregnant, whose parents were on average 31.9 and 28.2.
The findings suggested that the nearer a woman is to menopause when she gives birth, the higher the chance her daughter will have impaired fertility.
Bill Ledger, Professor of Reproductive Medicine at Sheffield University, said: "This is fascinating. We know the best quality eggs are ovulated early in life, so there's been a lot of anxiety in the community about women waiting until they are close to menopause before ovulating the egg that becomes their son or daughter. What does that do to the child? They're saying that poor egg quality in mum links to poor egg quality in the daughter. The problem has been that until this generation, there haven't been enough children born to older mothers to study."
Age of the father was found to have no significant impact.
More >>
Monday 23 October 2006
Women who give birth over 50 'just as capable'...
Findings due to be presented to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) today, say that women who give birth over the age of 50 are just as "capable" - both physically and mentally - of raising their children as younger mothers.
The University of South California research studied 150 women, divided equally into groups in their 30s, 40s and 50s. All the women had conceived children with the help of the University's assisted reproductive technology programme between 1992 and 2004.
The children in the study ranged from 10 to 12 years of age.
US scientists say that although health risks for older mothers exist during labour, motherhood at 50 is not as hazardous as previously thought, in terms of physical and mental well-being for both mother and baby.
However, one critic of the study said that it did not address the effect on children as mothers grew older.
In the UK about 24 women over 50 had a baby through IVF, although the last available statistics were for 2002. This figure is so low because of the greater chance of failure in older women and because few UK clinics will treat them.
More >>
Tuesday September 12 2006
Older mums experience better health in later years
In research funded by Britain's Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), researchers from the the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine found that not having children, having too many, or too young or not spaced far enough apart could be detrimental to a woman's health later in life. Also, that whilst women have a harder time conceiving after 40, those who do seem to have fewer medical problems as they age.
Poorer health in later life was associated with teenage births, big families of five or more children and closely spaced pregnancies of less than 18 months apart. However, according to the research older mothers experienced better health in their later years.
More >>
Thursday September 7 2006
Women in their 30s should be offered option to freeze eggs
Dr Gillian Lockwood of the British Fertility Society is advising that women in their early 30s who are thinking of delaying motherhood should be offered the option of freezing their eggs. She says that the measure is needed because so many women are looking to have children later in life, so more should be done to aid them.
Dr Lockwood will be telling the British Fertility Society Meeting in Glasgow that the trend of late life motherhood is set to continue, leading to increasing stresses for older women who want to conceive.
Dr Lockwood, who works at Midland Fertility Services - one of the few clinics in the UK to offer egg freezing facilities - said, "I don't want to encourage women who could have a family at the normal time to not do so because they think egg freezing will be an alternative, but not to know that this is available is unfortunate."
"Women in their late 30s and early 40s look and feel younger, and they tend to feel they have the same reproductive lifespan as a younger woman."
"It may seem very meddlesome to suggest women in their early 30s should freeze their eggs. In an ideal world, women would be able to combine a career, a home life and having children. But the reality is that it isn't an ideal world."
She added: "I'd much rather that a 42-year-old woman used healthy frozen eggs from her 30s, than she took a chance on her 'time expired' eggs from her 40s."
"The older you are, the more difficult it becomes to get pregnant and the greater the chance of a miscarriage or abnormality." she said. "It's the age of the egg, not the age of the womb, which determines the miscarriage rate. Women in their thirties should be encouraged to consider freezing their eggs."
Critics included Josephine Quintavalle, of the lobby group Comment on Reproductive Ethics, who commented, "We should stop finding these absurd solutions for society's problems. If society isn't ideal, then we should change it, not force women to buy into such risky and unreliable ways of dealing with the problem of when to have children."
Egg freezing can be uncertain and, to-date, only a handful of children have been born from the procedure. Further complicating the 'great egg debate' is a new study by Dr Jacky Boivin, of Cardiff University (click here to read about this). This suggests that older IVF mothers suffer more from depression and stress, are more likely to quarrel with their partners and that older fathers tend to be less affectionate.
More >>
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority website - info on freezing eggs.
Tuesday September 5 2006
Older dads six times more likely to have autistic children
A study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry concludes that the offspring of older fathers have a significantly increased risk of having autism. The team of UK and US researchers said that children born to men over 40 had a six times higher risk than those born to men under 30.
In 2004, more than 75,000 babies were born to fathers aged 40 and over - more than one in ten of all children born. The authors of the study said that it was further proof men also had "biological clocks".
The mother's age did not appear to influence the chances a child would have autism, although previous studies into this have produced mixed results.
More >>
Sunday September 3 2006
Study reveals that IVF makes older mothers more prone to depression and stress, whilst older fathers are less affectionate
Findings from a new study to be presented at the British Fertility Society meeting in Glasgow this Thursday, show that older mothers who have IVF-assisted children are more likely to suffer depression and argue with their partners, whilst older fathers show less affection and warmth towards their partner.
Study co-author Dr Jacky Boivin, of the School of Psychology, Cardiff University, said that relatively little research has been carried out on the impact of having a child later in life.
"There has been a change in the demographics of parenting, where people are increasingly having their children later on in their life cycle," she said. "We were interested in how that might impact on family environment and child well-being."
Mothers in their late 30s and over were more likely to say they took an active interest in their children's lives, but also suffered more symptoms of depression, such as lethargy and tension.
Compared to younger dads, fathers in the older age group were more inclined to be less tolerant of their children's physical activities, perceiving them to be more impulsive and overactive.
More >>
Thursday August 31 2006
Many pregnant women feel 'unprepared'
A survey of 1,000 women by Johnson's Baby and Tommy's, the baby charity has revealed that one in five pregnant women say they do not feel "emotionally ready" to have a baby. The survey found that many women were surprised at the physical and emotional demands of pregnancy.
Of those polled, 268 were between 31 and 35, 80 were 36 to 40 and nine were between 41 and 45.
Tommy's is a leading charity which funds research into the causes of miscarriage, stillbirth and premature birth.
Download PDF press release from Tommy's >>
Obese women should be denied fertility treatment...
Experts say that very obese women should be denied fertility treatment. The British Fertility Society is recommending women with a body mass index of 36 and over should not be allowed access to fertility treatment and underweight women should be forced to address their weight problem too. The report also said that no woman over the age of 40 should be allowed to start National Health Service-funded fertility treatment and that single women and same sex couples should be offered the same access as heterosexual couples.
Richard Kennedy, of the BFS, said: "The NHS is already stopping women who are obese from having fertility treatment. "What we are saying is that they should be less stringent and more consistent with how they apply this.
"Obese women are less likely to get pregnant and more likely to encounter health problems. It makes sense to address obesity before seeking fertility treatment."
More >>
Wednesday August 16 2006
Germany still has the lowest birth rate in Europe
Germany already had Europe's lowest birth rate, but in 2004 the number of births fell by a further 2.8%, whilst the mortality rate rose by 1.5%. In the former East Germany the birth rate is exceptionally low and the East German city of Chemnitz is thought to have the lowest birth rate in the world.
In 2004 Germany had 8.6 births per 1,000 inhabitants, compared with 12 in Britain, 12.7 in France and 15.2 in Ireland, which has Europe's highest birth rate.
More from BBC Online >>
Tuesday August 15 2006
Dr Susan Bewley talks to Mothers 35 Plus...
Mothers 35 Plus contacted Dr Bewley about her recent 'reported' quotes to The Sunday Times, and she had this to say:-
I'm so sorry about the recent media excitement and any upset or distress that may have been caused to older women and mothers who contact you. I am not in control of the way my concerns appear in the press and the last thing I want to do is insult anyone.
I think the birth of a baby and new motherhood are joyous at any and all ages. However, my colleagues and I have been concerned about the increasing distress and complications we are seeing in our professional lives as obstetricians and gynaecologists. There is a rising amount of infertility, miscarriage and complications of pregnancy as the average age of childbearing goes up. Although most pregnancies over the age of 35 go very well, there are a minority of women who have problems, some very serious.
By 40 fertility has fallen dramatically and half of all pregnancies end in miscarriage. IVF is both expensive and usually doesn't work. Half of the successful IVF pregnancies over 40 use ovum donation (which also has associated problems).
The comparison (and contrast) with teenage pregnancy was to point out that: (a) there are problems at each end of the reproductive spectrum: one more social, the other more medical and (b) whilst the number of teenage pregnancies is falling nationally, the numbers over 35 years (which I've called middle-age for want of a better label) are much higher and rising dramatically. This is why its a public health issue as collectively we are seeing that reproduction is riskier (maybe its not the right comparison, but the nation is also getting fatter and that brings more ill-health with it).
I think its dreadful to stigmatise teenagers in the first place, and to 'blame' or point fingers at older mothers in the second place. What I'm concerned about is why, over the last 30 years or so, women are having babies later and later, with more risks, when we are generally much more 'risk-averse' nowadays. There is some evidence that its a mixture of factors (suitable partner, husband not ready, career, financial, infertility) and its not a simple issue of "choice". Nevertheless, I'd like women to have good information as a starting point and I will be forwarding my review article to Mothers 35 Plus once it is published in the autumn.
Sunday August 13 2006
Late motherhood as "big a problem" as teenage mums
In an article published in the Sunday Times, Dr Susan Bewley, consultant obstetrician at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital in London, wants government ministers to formally categorise the 'epidemic' of middle-age pregnancy as a 'health hazard' and come up with specific policies to deal with it, as happens with teenage mothers.
"Middle-age pregnancy is a public health problem because women en masse are moving out of the optimal age of childbearing and that brings preventable disease and stress with it," said Bewley last week. "Middle-age pregnancy has complications in the same way as teenage pregnancy. We have policies to address teenage pregnancy but not middle-age pregnancy."
Read the Sunday Times article in full >>
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