Babies, Parenting, Child Health, Infant Nutrition

Child Health – BBC News Reports Concerns over Older Mother Trend

02.07.2009 | 11:15:23 pm | Posted by admin

By Colleen Hurley, RD, Certified Kid’s Nutrition Specialist

There is a growing trend in the new millennia and that is women having babies much later in life. Although, as Mum Mum’s recently reported, fertility later in life is equated with a familial parenting, child health longer life expectancy; health risks during pregnancy do increase with age. There is new concern that this trend may lead to high risk pregnancy complications.

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recently published evidence about the medical risks of pregnancy for older mums. The college set up an expert panel to research the topic once current statistics revealed that the number of older mothers has reached record levels.

Many doctors are concerned by the fact that many women are unaware of just how rapidly fertility declines after 35 years of age. The success rate of a live birth for each IVF (in vitro fertilization) cycle is about 31% for a woman under 35; yet that rate drops to 5% for women over 42. Other experts argue, however, that advances in medical technology can keep up with the trend.

Later maternal age may also bring a different set of implications as health services may not be able to handle the increasing number of high risk expecting women. Even though most pregnancies result in a healthy baby, the expert panel says older women run the risk of serious adverse conditions such as gestational diabetes. The experts also feel that Hollywood is influencing women as well with the growing number of older celebrity mums; noting the media does not report the complications of these pregnancies.

The major risks noted by the college for later in life pregnancies are preeclampsia, or elevated blood pressure, and diabetes yet some experts claim that pregnancy has never been safer due to medical progress. Focusing on the medical risks leaves out the vast societal changes that have taken place over the past few decades that are urging this trend and shaping women’s lives. There are now greater career opportunities for women along with the expectation of financial independence.

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About this Blog:

The Baby Mum-Mum blog discusses everything to do with babies and parenting with a focus on child health and child development. Baby Mum-Mum is a healthy, easy to digest baby rice snack that is enjoyed by babies and mothers around the world for its portability, gluten free ingredients and great taste.

Announcement:

On February 22, the FDA issued letters relating to labelling to 22 food companies, including several baby food manufacturers. We were advised by the FDA that we are not permitted to print the statements "Low in Fat" or "No added fat or oils" on our Baby Mum-Mum packaging.

Although these statements are true and each serving of Baby Mum-Mum does not contain any fat, the FDA has brought to our attention that these claims are technically not allowed on our packaging solely because the product is intended for consumption by infants and children under 4 years of age.

In the future, these claims will be removed from our packaging.

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