The Joys of Pregnancy Over 35
You know what's not enough?
Carrying a child in your womb for 9 months at the age of 36.
Just to add to the joy, being 35 years of age and older gives you a whole new label:
Geriatric.
No, seriously.
There's been another shift to move from the term "Advanced Maternal Age" (which isn't the kindest way of saying Old Mom) back to the lovely term of GERIATRIC PREGNANCY.
ger·i·at·ric ˌjerēˈatrik/ adjective
1. relating to old people, especially with regard to their health care.
"Relating to old people." Enough said.
It's not time to start picking out your nursing home yet.
Advanced Maternal Age (or Geriatric Pregnancy) refers to the pregnancy of a woman over the age of 35.
Here's the good news: The percentage of women getting pregnant in the 'geriatric' time frame has increased steadily over the last 45 years.
AND there may be some great benefits to the decision to wait a bit longer.
• Older parents tend to be more financially stable before welcoming children into the family.
• A study shows that it's possible that older men actually make smarter (or geeky-er) babies.
• A 2012 study found that the children of moms over the age of 35 tended to have overall better health.
• A 2016 study showed that women who were over the age of 35 when they had children actually had better cognition and memory later in life.
Add things like being more emotionally prepared, setting better boundaries, having more patience... This list of benefits isn't sounding all too shabby!