Women are often discouraged to have a late pregnancy given the medical complications. Doctors too will advise you to tread cautiously. But with modern science leading the way, it’s a lot safer to become a mother at an older age.
Late pregnancies continue to remain successful despite the risk. And with all the necessary precautions in place, there’s not much to worry about.
In fact, babies born to older mothers grow up to be better children, suggests a recent study.
Babies Born To Older Mothers Have Fewer Difficulties
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A study carried out at the School of Business and Social Sciences at Aarhus University in Denmark revealed that kids born to women after the age of 35 had more positives to their aid.
The study suggests that older mothers are “less likely to punish and scold their children while raising them.” It further states that children with older mothers have fewer behavioural, social and emotional difficulties.
The study factored in children between the age of seven and 11-years-old. It suggests that older mothers are not strict when it comes to imposing physical and verbal discipline. Plus, they also have a more stable relationship with their children, and are likely to pay attention to the child’s academics as well.
This comes from the mother’s mental maturity, which has been disregarded when talking about older pregnancies in women. The maturity and understanding also make older women beat stress easily as they maintain the right attitude when raising kids.
The study suggests that age helps people to deal with emotional and mental challenges in a better fashion, which includes the relationship with their own children. Older mummies will be able to guide their child in a better way and provide a more positive environment. This can help children develop a more optimistic outlook in life.
A late pregnancy would also mean that the expecting mum is in a stable relationship. She will also be more financially sound, have options for childcare, and more social capital.
All of these ease the transition to parenthood. Many women find it to be a more flexible option as well, especially with technologies like in vitro fertilisation (IVF), egg freezing, surrogacy and donor eggs.
Advantages Of A Late Pregnancy
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An older pregnancy also hints at the mother being mentally prepared to have a baby rather than being rushed into it by social or cultural pressure. Women often opt for a late pregnancy owing to educational or work commitments, as well as for settling into the right relationship in their 20s.
The last decade’s economic downturn has also been instrumental for several couples to push pregnancy plans by a few years. A late pregnancy has plenty of advantages for the mum. Here’s are four reasons that make it special:
1. You are more likely to have healthier kids
A study in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) suggests that babies born to older mothers were healthier than kids with younger mums.
The researchers took the overall health and wellbeing up to the age of five years and learnt that children with older mums had fewer accidental injuries. They also found that these kids had lower social and emotional difficulties and had better skills in language development.
2. You are better at handling temper tantrums
Older mums are more patient and can handle temper tantrums with a lot more patience. A 2016 Danish study concluded that older mothers were more apt when it came to setting boundaries with children, and were less likely to yell and punish them.
Older mums also had less anxiety during pregnancy and were involved in more stable relationships, while also being better off financially.
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3. Older mums also have a longer lifespan
A study in the journal Menopause suggests that women who had a child after the age of 33 years are more likely to live up to the age of 95.
The researchers reported that these women had twice the chance of living up to 95 or older, as compared to those who had their last child before their 30th birthday.
4. Older mums are likely to have enhanced brain power
A 2016 study by the University of Southern California in the US suggests that older pregnancies will work for women when it comes to mental state later in life.
The study examined a group of over 800 women between the ages of 41 and 92. The researchers discovered that women who had their last baby after the age of 35 had better cognition and verbal memory later in life.
The study also found that women who used contraceptives for more than 10 years or started menstruating before the age of 13 years, fared better in problem-solving and executive functioning at a later age in life.
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