The Pros and Cons of Getting Pregnant After 40

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Following are some of the benefits of bearing children after 40:

1. A refined child-rearing skill set

One plus to having a child in your forties is that your child-rearing skills will be refined. You’ll make fewer mistakes and have a better grasp on what not to do, especially if this isn’t your first child. You can reflect on the mistakes you made with your other children and make sure that you don’t repeat the same ones.You can build on the activities and efforts that you don’t feel you put enough into before. You can use everything that you learned over the years and put that into raising this child in a manner that you feel is perfect. The entire experience could be a wonderful bonding journey for you, your mate and your child.

2. Strengthens marriage

Childbirth can be a strong relationship adhesive that strengthens the bond that already exists between you and your spouse. It truly tests the strength of the relationship because both of you will have to be resilient in times of struggle and strain. For every struggle, there is a happy moment, however. You would come out of this experience with a new closeness that surpasses the relationship that you formerly had.

3. Maturity and time

Maturity often comes with age, and as such, you will be able to put time and effort into raising your children into well-rounded humans. Oftentimes, young mothers do not manage their time as well as older women do. You’ll have a seasoned sense of responsibility and the things that were important to you when you were 25 may not be as important to you now. Your child will have the benefit of receiving 100 percent of you instead of only 80 percent or 75 percent. You and your mate may also be more established in your careers where you can take more time off to be with your child.

4. Additional pampering during pregnancy

People have a tendency to sympathize with women who are over 40 a little bit more than they do when an extremely young girl is carrying a baby. You may find that more people hold doors for you, buy you ice cream and do other friendly things for you. If you do experience that, it will make your pregnancy go smoother and you will experience less stress than usual.

Risks to take into account when having a baby after 40:

Maternal and fetal health issues

There are some health risks involved with carrying and delivering a child when you are over 40. As the body ages, it develops a tendency toward certain conditions, diabetes being one of them. You are more likely to develop gestational diabetes if you become pregnant after the age of 40.

However, a woman who is carrying twins has the same chance of developing the condition. Gestational diabetes is an inappropriate way of handling insulin. It can make your blood sugar level go up too, high. However, you can manage gestational diabetes if your obstetrician catches it early enough to advise dietary and lifestyle changes. The good news is that you can take certain tests such as the ultrasound that can pinpoint issues before they become huge problems.

Another condition that you may develop if you get pregnant over for is pre-eclampsia. Pre-eclampsia is a condition that includes high blood pressure, proteinuria and fluid retention. If the condition develops into full-blown eclampsia, the baby and you will be at risk.

Eclampsia is a malfunctioning placenta, and the placenta is the life force to the child. It carries nutrients and other items to him that he needs to grow. His nutrients will diminish significantly if you develop eclampsia. The risks are that he could be born prematurely or he could have learning disabilities, vision problems, or a condition such a cerebral palsy. The condition can be serious for you, as well. You may experience a stroke, seizure, heart failure or post-delivery bleeding. You could also have liver or kidney problems.

Making the final decision

Ultimately, the decision of whether to have a child over 40 is all yours. You, your mate and your doctor should discuss the pros and cons and the health risks to come up with the decision. You could all work together to ensure that you have the safest pregnancy, labor and delivery possible.