Your Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy Over 35

Whether you’ve waited to have a child or you’re adding to your existing family at a later stage, plenty of women are having kids in their 30s and 40s. Here’s how you can, too, with these simple guidelines.

You’re embarking on a pregnancy after the age of 35, which is entering what we call advanced maternal age territory. Although a pregnancy at any age has its challenges, for women who are having kids in their late 30s and 40s, these challenges can become more numerous.

That said, we want you to know right off the bat that plenty of women over the age of 35 successfully have children, so we don’t want to scare you unnecessarily. In fact, the average birth age in the United States is rising and stands at 27.5 for first births and 12.5% of these first births are among women aged 35 and older.

To help you navigate a pregnancy at a later age, the team of pregnancy experts at Bay Area Physicians for Women’s Health pulled together some important information and practices that we review below.

Get started on prenatal care right away

Prenatal care is extremely important for any pregnant woman, and it’s especially so for women over the age of 35.

The prenatal care we offer meets you where you are and we go from there. So, if you’re over the age of 35, it means that we will likely monitor you a little more closely to make sure that your pregnancy goes smoothly.

During your prenatal visits, we can discuss whether you want any extra testing for chromosomal conditions, which are more common in babies of older mothers.

We can also review what vitamins you should be taking to optimize your health and pregnancy and perform invaluable ultrasound imaging to make sure your baby’s development is on track.

Not to mention, these visits can also let us know what you’re facing — the incidence of twins increases in older women!

Stay active and eat healthy

Two pregnancy complications develop with more frequency among older women:

Gestational diabetes — women aged 40 and older are six times more likely to develop gestational diabetes than women under the age of 20
Preeclampsia, which is dangerously high blood pressure

One of the best ways to stay one step ahead of these two complications is through diet and exercise. To make sure that your glucose levels remain in check, we want to remain active during your pregnancy. This activity can also help manage your blood pressure.

Though we aren’t suggesting that you run a marathon, we do want you to exercise so long as it’s comfortable to do so and under our guidance.

And now’s a good time to ditch the junk and processed foods, which are full of sugars and fats, in favor of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins.

Have a birth plan (but remain flexible)

We enjoy helping mothers-to-be to design their ideal birth plan, and we want to do that with you, too. Bear in mind that a birth plan is a goal, but things happen and circumstances change, so you should also be flexible.

The reality is that Cesarean section is more common among older birth mothers, so know that we will do everything in our power to stick with your birth plan, but we may have to pivot should something come up.

Again, we want to reiterate that having children over the age of 35 is perfectly achievable and you have every reason to expect a smooth road ahead. You can ensure it’s smoother still by following the guidelines we present above.

For a more detailed and personalized plan for your pregnancy, we invite you to contact our office in Mobile, Alabama, to schedule an appointment.