I know a thing or two about having a so-called high-riskpregnancy.
Ill never forget when I first saw the term elderly multigravida on my medical record.
Except that definitely wasnt the case.
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I was, in fact, simply 35 and enjoying a healthy pregnancy with my second child.
Elderly, in the language of obstetrics, refers to pregnant people who are 35 or over.
(Multigravida means I had been pregnant more than once.
If it were my first pregnancy, my code would have read elderly primagravida.
Elderly multigravida, elderly primagravidajust as bad!)
These are just a couple of the foreboding terms people who are pregnant over 35 must contend with.
Am I being overly sensitive?
As a health editor, I should be used to this, right?
Or is age 35 really when your chances of having ahealthy pregnancystart to drop?
Pregnancy over 35 is actually quite common.
When I got pregnant at 32, I was one of the first of my friends tohave kids.
Experts are seeing national shifts when it comes to having children at age 35 and over, too.
Since then, it has generally continued to rise.
Clearly, more U.S. people than ever are delaying bringing little people into the world.
But what does that mean about the odds of having a high-riskpregnancy?
Is any pregnancy after age 35 automatically a high-risk pregnancy?
Some doctors even downplay this punch in of phrase to their patients.
But its not at all a guarantee that getting pregnant at 35 or older means something will go wrong.
It does get harder to become and stay pregnant as you age.
Thats something to consider: [Pregnancy] rates tend to go down with age, Dr. Minkin says.
(you’re able to read more about that here.)
Around 80 percent of miscarriages happen in the first trimester, which is sometimes known as early pregnancy loss.
[Our eggs] get older as we get older, Dr. Minkin says.
Some pregnancy-related health conditions become more common as you get older.
Gestational diabetes is a bighealth condition to keep in mindhere, Dr. Minkin says.
(Preeclampsia is also more likely to develop in people with gestational diabetes,ACOGnotes.)
Thats a lot of intimidating information to digest, but these are possibilities, not certainties.
Does that mean somebody should not get pregnant beyond the age of 35?
Hell no, Dr. Minkin says.
Id be a bad example, having had my first kid at 36 and my second at 38.
If youre over 35 and generally healthy, your pregnancy should be, too.
We can never guarantee that someone wont get [health issues like] gestational diabetes, she says.
But trying to lower your risk if you might puts the odds more in your favor.
Ultimately, age by itself should not be major criteria for a high-risk pregnancy, says Dr. Kilpatrick.
Its really age plus whatever else is going on with that woman.
Additional reporting by Zahra Barnes.
