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Expert Q&A
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| By Michael D Benson, MD Attending Physician, Highland Park Hospital, IL | ||
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What are the statistics for healthy, "normal," babies to be born to women over the age of 48? My sister is considering a third pregnancy and says that she has heard of no negative statistics, or potential negative effects for the baby, at her age. Could the difference be when natural eggs are used, versus using the new technologies?
There are two specific issues with advanced maternal age: the risk of chromosome errors (such as Down's Syndrome) and the difficulties in conceiving in the first place. Maternal health problems, such as adult onset diabetes and hypertension, do increase slowly with age but are not thought to be worsened by pregnancy per se.
The rise in birth defects is a real issue for a 48 year old -- with a risk of a chromosome problem occurring well over 5 percent. These problems are detectable in advance with either chorionic villus sampling or amniocentesis. If the pregnancy results through assisted reproductive technologies using a donor egg, the risk of chromosome errors is more closely related to the age of the woman donating the egg rather than the age of the recipient.
Perhaps a greater problem is the issue of conceiving in the first place. The probability of conception is reduced and the risk of miscarriage increases significantly as women grow older past the age of 40."
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- What are the statistics for healthy, "normal," babies to be born to women over the age of 48?
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