Advanced maternal age: precautions and risks involved

As it is said, ‘You never understand life until it grows inside you’, so is your pregnancy. With the recent trend towards a focus in your career, there has been a steady increase in the age when you plan your pregnancy. The doctor labels you in the advanced maternal age group and you start worrying about the problems which you may encounter during this phase of your life.
The past three decades have seen significant increase in maternal age at childbirth. There is no clear cut definition of advanced maternal age. Some studies say the risks increases when the women is more than 40 years of age and others state that it is more than 35 years of age. We take the cut off of to 35 years to suggest as advanced maternal age.
Advanced maternal age is associated with a wide range of adverse pregnancy outcomes including low birth weight, pre-term birth, stillbirth, unexplained fetal death and increased rates of Caesarean section
Even the chance of chromosomal abnormalities and congenital abnormalities increases with advancing maternal age.
Fortunately, there are ways to deliver a healthy baby and have a happy going pregnancy with the following steps:
1. Preconception counseling
In India, it is a common scenario that most of the women come and visit the doctor after pregnancy and that too not in the first trimester. It is important to visit the doctor because they can provide you the answers regarding the risks involved in accordance with your advanced maternal age, what precautions to take and what to start taking prior to the pregnancy and in your pregnancy. What are the risks of genetic disorders etc. If you plan to come in pregnancy it should be in collaboration with your obstetrician and a clinical geneticist. The obstetric part can be taken care by you and your obstetrician. It is important for you to keep monitoring your fetal movements and give proper history to your obstetrician regarding hypertension, diabetes, previous pregnancy complicated by growth restriction or preterm birth. If you have any of them in your current pregnancy it is important to take a medical advice for these conditions to have a healthy baby.
For the chromosomal abnormalities, you need to visit us because we can be a one stop solution to your queries. Chromosomal abnormalities are important to be screened for because they are the ones associated with mental sub normality in the baby for which there is no permanent cure. But there is no need to worry because we can provide you the answer with screening test in pregnancy by double marker/quadruple test and genetic sonogram. These help in predicting the risk and tells you the need of undergoing invasive testing directly or after these investigations.

So if you are more than 35 years of age and planning a pregnancy, you do not need to worry at all. We can help you out in your journey through pregnancy and help you have a healthy baby.
Feel free to email to us or visit our website: www.primegenetics.in, monibhatia@primegenetics.in or call on 08222044022