Pros And Cons Of Late Pregnancy

The trends of childbearing have changed in the past few decades with late pregnancy becoming an increasing phenomenon nowadays. Whether the reason is a late marriage, sterility, or career development, more and more women are crossing the age of 35 or even 40 before thinking of getting pregnant. This trend is becoming very common but it's important to know the pros and cons of late pregnancy.

Pros

One of the biggest advantages of late pregnancy is that the woman becomes mature and is better prepared for the process of childbirth and for rearing the child. Research has shown that older women have lesser inner conflicts and changes of moods during pregnancy than younger women. The great experience of life's travails makes the older woman more prepared for facing the problems and the biological changes that pregnancy involves in comparison a young woman who has not traveled for long on the road of life.

An older woman is also more disciplined and has more self control in being able to avoid food or drinks that might be harmful to her and her growing fetus. The late pregnancy is usually a joint decision that two experienced and mature people take and they know how to go through with it in a responsible manner. Moreover, an older woman can deal with stress in a more controlled manner. She is also more interested in learning the intricacies of being pregnant than a younger woman.

Apart from being less stressed even when they are aware of the higher risk of having a baby with genetic defects; older women are more confident and independent with a better disposition and a positive attitude than younger women. Moreover, since the late pregnancy was a result of the woman dedicating her youthful years to building her career, she would naturally like to try and be successful in what she had missed out in her youth.

Cons

There are also many negative aspects of late pregnancy. Young women have a stronger physical capacity to recover from the delivery process than older women who would take a longer time. Moreover, older women have been so used to looking after themselves for so many years that they find it very difficult to adjust to their additional roles of taking care of their babies. The older woman is so methodical in planning various aspects of her life that she finds it difficult to cope with a situation where pregnancy, childbirth and looking after a baby are aspects that cannot be planned as desired.

Getting pregnant at a later stage in life also involves either having more children in quick succession or being content with only one child since the biological clock keeps ticking away. Moreover, there is always the tendency to spoil the children as they are considered as precious gifts of nature and when the children grow up to be teenagers there is the possibility of a larger generation gap because of the big difference in ages.

Late pregnancy can never be considered risk free although the chances of complications are lower if the older woman is physically fit, has had no pathological miscarriages and does not suffer from sterility.

However, there can be other physical handicaps involved in getting pregnant after 35 such as delays in conceiving, chances of an early menopause, higher probability of the baby having genetic disorders such as Down's syndrome, higher risk of miscarriage, chances of developing high blood pressure and diabetes, high probability of the abruption of placenta or pathological position of the fetus which might involve surgical intervention.

There are many other risk factors involved in late pregnancy and as such it is advisable for women over 35 to read appropriate books and articles on this subject to be aware of the various pros and cons so that they can take the correct decisions and appropriate actions.