Pregnancy over 40 is not as rare as it once was. After all, more and more women today are pushing motherhood off while they meet other life goals. Even long before now, it was a natural thing for a woman to do.
Of course, you may already know that there are more risks and threats than if you were younger but they can be prevented if you take good care of yourself. Bear in mind that every pregnancy is a risk—no matter how young or old the mother is—and, as an older woman, your risks are just a bit higher but still controllable.
When you’re older than 40, getting pregnant typically becomes more difficult. If you want to conceive, you have no time to wait. You should start having vaginal intercourse a few times a week. You may also want to consider trying various fertility ‘boosting’ techniques, like herbal medicine or other remedies. This world gives you plenty of choices and your number one task is to explore and decide what works best for you. If you are already physically active, think about adding yoga or relaxation techniques to your daily routine. Think about dietary supplements which might help. Go to your doctor or find a fertility specialist; either one is a must. Let them know that you would like to have a baby and then listen to suggestions that doctor can make.
As you grow older, your ovaries do also. Their function starts to decline so there are fewer eggs available to be fertilized and they might have some mutations, so they can increase the risk for genetic or chromosomal malformations in the baby. In short, this means that when you are over 40, you have fewer chances to get pregnant and higher chances for complications and miscarriage. But with regular medical checkups and tests prescribed by your OB, you can ward off almost anything that might happen and also be proactive in your own care and treatment.
If you are older than 40 and pregnant, you should take it slowly—especially in the beginning of your pregnancy. Given your age, the physician will recommend you get an amniocentesis (where a sample of amniotic fluid is taken) and/or chorionic villus sampling (CVS which tests a sample of your placental tissue) to rule out any chromosomal abnormalities of your baby. There are also numerous blood tests, which are less invasive, and which also help in evaluating the health of you and your baby. Ultrasound checkups serve the same purpose. If everything is okay with your pregnancy, you can choose the way you want to bring your baby into this world too but statistics show that many women over the age of 40 have their babies by caesarean or C-section.
Becoming a parent in your 40s has both its good and negative sides, and you probably listed them before you started to plan your pregnancy. Be aware that it may take much more effort at your age to conceive but if you are positive that you want it, there are many options available to assist as you go through the struggle of becoming pregnant and giving birth to a healthy baby.
What is endometriosis? What about PCOS? If you want to learn more about the conditions that affect fertility and conception and the necessary fertility tests for women, please visit WaysToConceiveABaby.com.
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