What To Expect When You Are Expecting In Your 40'S And 50'S

This sponsored post is an Initiative of Nordica Fertility Centre and once every week,you will read stories of women who have decided to tell their stories to encourage others who are trying to get pregnant as well.

''Fola always wanted to have children. They were just a few things she wanted to do first. At 23, when many of her peers were starting families, she was into building a career in sports. She won more gold medals than anyone else in her early years in school. In the years that followed as an undergraduate, Fola became one of the most prolific sportswomen of her time. 

But marriage, and motherhood, eluded her- until she met Seun, the love of her life. Seun was an artisan and a few years younger than Fola. When they got married nine years ago, Fola was already in her 40s, but they still wanted to have children. For the next eight years, they tried everything to get pregnant, with no luck. Fola had run out of options. 

She couldn’t conceive naturally. Every treatment she had tried had failed. When she asked if she could adopt, she was told she was too old. If she wanted a family of her own, she needed a medical miracle – and she found one, IVF.

She joined a programme that makes motherhood possible for women over 40 – even 50 and older. Every woman can get pregnant at such age, but you may not be using your eggs. 

The fact is that you can be pregnant and have a completely normal pregnancy, normal delivery and, in fact even breast feed. Fola was 54 when she underwent the procedure, and got pregnant on the first try. She gave birth to twin boys.

Stories of women in their mid and late forties successfully becoming pregnant are no longer unusual as they used to be. It used to be women over the age of 35 who wanted to have babies were considered elderly. But all that has changed as more women are getting pregnant later in life.

In the last decade or so, birth rates among women aged 35 to 39 have doubled while rates for women between 40 and 50 is on the increase. It was once impossible for a woman in her 50s to think of pregnancy, but now it is possible using In-vitro fertilization and donor eggs. Expectedly, at 40 or 50 something years of age, there are probably higher diminishing hopes of motherhood. Some become pregnant spontaneously: many others are able to conceive using an egg donor. However, the likelihood of becoming pregnant is significantly higher through an egg donor programme.

Actually, pregnancy course and birth outcomes are extremely similar whether a woman is able to conceive with her own eggs or with an egg donor. That is, whether or not the pregnancy is a result of natural conception, a conception with her own eggs and assistance from advanced reproductive techniques like IVF or with the assistance of egg donation. Often, the most notable risk factor is not how the pregnancy was conceived but the age in which a woman achieves a pregnancy. Sure after 30s things can get harder, so the cons as well as the pros of giving birth later in life must be considered when deciding whether to even try.

Women today have a lot more options and questions than their mothers did about when and how to have a baby. There are too many questions. How old is too old to attempt to get pregnant? Surprisingly, numerous studies and researches of women 50-to-63-years old who used assisted reproduction, found age is no longer a barrier to getting pregnant, irrespective of the increased risk to older women during pregnancy.

It is certain now more than ever before that more women are seeking advanced reproductive techniques, to assist in achieving a pregnancy. In so many ways have the frontiers of procreation been advanced that virtually any biologically healthy woman whether she is in her forties or fifties can successfully mother a child. Older women wishing to have children are not left out of this new-found adventure into the land of motherhood. Women can now get pregnant in their 40s and even in their 50s with more certainty, but the question is what does pregnancy do to the body at this age? What should a 40 or 50-year old expect with pregnancy?

Ordinarily, pregnancy takes a toll on the body, and younger women tend to have an easier time. If you are healthy and in your early 30s, you are likely to feel sick, and have heartburn and swollen feet, but those are normal with pregnancy. In the mid-30s, things change. Women are more likely to have high blood pressure or to develop gestational diabetes, and are also more likely to miscarry.

Beyond this, things get a lot more interesting. The most likely reason for this is as women get older, the risk of having a foetus with chromosomal abnormality increases. Women in their 40s can add fatigue to their list of complaints. At 40, you are four times more likely to develop serious complications than during pregnancy at 30, because of blood clots. One real fear is the risk of having preeclampsia, which is high blood pressure in pregnancy. For women over 40, the risk can be as high as 25 percent or greater, but with good management monitoring, it is controllable. 

Records of women becoming pregnant, for the first time, in their 50s or 60s continue to inundate the medical world. As much as these women require guidance as to what to expect in their 50s, the general outlook appears to be favorable despite the severe medical conditions that can evolve or become exacerbated during pregnancy. Certainly there are more intense and pronounced physiological change during this time and it is advisable to be prepared and watchful of possible complications.

The point here is that women in their forties and fifties should expect to have some mild increase in pregnancy related issues. However, carefully selected and, monitored women should anticipate a successful result. The idea is like this:

Women in this age group see a fertility expert for a history and physical examination. They should undergo tests like ECG, a chest x-ray, mammogram, PAP smear and blood work as part of her preconception evaluation.

When assessment is completed, women can be counseled suitably as to what their potential risks may be.

Appropriately screened, healthy women in their 40s or 50s, who carry a singleton pregnancy, can expect their gestation to go practically full term and deliver babies that are approximately the same weight as their counterparts half their age.

These women are also approximately three times more likely to deliver by caesarean section, three to ten times more likely to experience pregnancy induced hypertension and two to five times more likely to encounter diabetes compared to younger women. Although there does not seem to be any medical reason why such a woman cannot attempt to become pregnant on the basis of age alone, it is always advisable she seeks counsel of a qualified fertility expert.  

Enquiries about this article should be forwarded to info@nordicalagos.org

Other articles include

-We lost the battle but the war is not over

-Infertility beat me but it didnt break me