One in five babies are now born to women over 35 as would-be parents feel pressure of high mortgages and debt

By STEVE DOUGHTY

Giving birth later in life: Some 20 per cent of babies born in England and Wales last year had mothers aged 35 and over


One in five mothers is approaching middle age by the time she has a child, figures have revealed.

The boom in motherhood among older women means more than 140,000 babies were born to women of 35 or older last year - 20 per cent of all births in England and Wales.

The proportion of babies with mothers in their late 30s and older has gone up by a third in ten years as more women delay having families.

Fathers are also increasingly likely to be close to middle age when they are faced with bringing up young children.

The latest count showed that two thirds of new fathers are over 30.

The breakdown from the Office for National Statistics raised new questions over the trend for parents to be older and its impact on the health and upbringing of children.

Medical authorities say there are greater risks for mothers and babies when mothers are over 35, and older parents face a greater chance of ill-health or disability while their children are still young.

Numbers of older mothers have been shooting up in recent years, partly because more women are choosing education and careers over early marriage and family, and partly because many reach their 30s burdened with high mortgages, debt, and living costs that encourages them to postpone having children.

The trend to co-habitation rather than marriage also means many women are unwilling to have children while they are uncertain about the degree of commitment of their partner.


The new figures showed that 141,246 babies were born to mothers over the age of 35 last year, a fifth of the 706,248 births in England and Wales.


Of these, nearly 27,000 were born to mothers over 40; nearly 1,500 to mothers over 45, and 89 to women over the age of 50.

In 1999, only 15 per cent of newborn babies had mothers over 35.
Researcher Patricia Morgan said: ‘What is happening is that sharp-elbowed middle-class women are having fewer children or none at all.

'People are under economic pressure, they have heavy costs and debts, they delay having children and their biological clocks tick on.

'Those that have children late feel great while they are in their 40s. But 15 years on they may not be so healthy.'

There have been a series of warning to older mothers about the risks of having children later in life.

Earlier this year Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists President Professor Sir Sabaratnam Arulkumaran said: 'Later pregnancy is associated with more complications and specialised obstetric help is required to care for this growing group of women.

'Later maternal age is now a fact of life and something which the NHS must prepare for.'

A pregnant woman over 40 is reckoned to be two or three times more likely to lose her baby than a younger woman.

Last year 26 girls of 13 or less had babies, the ONS breakdown showed.

One of them was married, a status that means she must have married abroad in a country that permits marriage at a young age.

A further 154 14-year-olds and 858 15-year-olds gave birth to children.


source :dailymail

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