Long before many of us are even thinking about having babies, we are all are bombarded with some version of the message “You MUST get pregnant before 35.” Why? We’re given lots of reasons, many of them either overstated or straight up myths.
“It’s so hard to get pregnant after 35!” (Not always.)
“It’s so dangerous for you to be pregnant after 35!” (Not inherently.)
“Your baby is at high risk for all sorts of genetic abnormalities!” (Increased risk isn’t the same as high risk.)
But Dr. Noa Sterling, an OB-GYN who posts on TikTok as @drsterlingobgyn, has a positive message for mamas in the mid-30s and beyond.
“Talking about the benefits of pregnancy at 35+ is one of my favorite things,” she begins. “First of all, kids born to parents who are older are healthier and do better in school. Children of older parents also have fewer emotional, social, and behavioral issues. Now people’s response to that is often times ‘Well, yeah, because people who wait to have kids are more financially stable’ to which I say ‘Exactly.’ …. A lot of us wait to have kids so that we’re more financially stable and thus our kids do better in school and have better health outcomes.”
What’s more: many of these studies actually controlled for socioeconomic status, so there may be more to it than just better circumstances that often come with age. And it’s not just good news for babies with parents old enough to run for president. Mamas also benefit, it seems.
“Multiple studies have shown that women who have babies later in life actually live longer,” Sterling shares. Moreover, she cites another study that found women who had babies after 35 had better cognition scores and better verbal memory recall after menopause than women who had their last baby before 35.
And, again, a lot of that can perhaps be chalked up to the idea that a better socioeconomic status, achieved through waiting to start a family until you’re more financially stable, could play a role in this… but why should that be weighed less than any evidence that it’s entirely a matter of genetics?
“Of course, in order to get these benefits, you have to get through the pregnancy first,” she notes. “And that’s why it’s really important to talk about the things that we can do to reduce the risk of complications in pregnancy after 35.”
In follow-up videos, Sterling highlights precautions one can take to avoid some of the more common issues that might arise in so-called “geriatric pregnancies. Low-dose aspirin to reduce the risk of blood pressure complications (like preeclampsia) is one easy measure that can make a big difference. Cervical length screening, and other measures she encourages folks to discuss with their care provider.
“We are not in a position where we just have to accept all the risks and do nothing about it,” she says. In another video, she highlights another important note. “There are young people who have much higher risk pregnancies than someone who just happens to be 38 when they’re pregnant. And most people who are advanced maternal age have healthy babies.”
Look, ultimately, when it comes to “advanced maternal age,” it’s important to know what you might be at risk for, but equally important to remember that a possible risk (or even an increased risk) is not certain doom. Talk to your provider, be proactive, and then sit back and enjoy your statistically healthy, well-adjusted children!
