Fitness and Health are More Important than Age When Getting Pregnant

Recently Dr Barry Walters came out saying that women who get pregnant past the age of 37 are selfish as they will leave their children with geriatric parents by the time they are becoming adults. He also claims that the health risks for mothers are too high by this age and they should not be having babies. Read the full article.

Yes I agree that the risk of health problems would be higher as a person ages, but that does not mean that all 37 year olds are unfit, unhealthy and beyond being able to have a safe pregnancy. Some people over this age would be fitter and healthier than their younger counterparts. Shouldn’t this decision be done on a case by case basis between the potential mother and her own GP who knows her medical history and fitness level?

Further his claim implies that all females will be geriatrics by age 60. Given that the current average life expectancy for a female is around 85 years, I would say this it is a bit unrealistic to assume that the majority of people will be geriatrics by this age. Yes some people may be having major health problems by age 60, but many people are still fit, healthy and active at this age. Different individuals age differently and so the decision should be up to the individual, rather than a pre-determined age being considered ‘too old’ for all. In fact studies have shown that individuals who are fit can expect an extra 12.7 years of disability free life on top of what their less fit counterparts achieve, so fit people are not being selfish getting pregnant beyond their mid thirties.

Even though I firmly believe that when a person has children is up to them and no-one else, a better argument to have children early is the increased risk of Down syndrome as the mother ages. My personal preference would be to finish having children before age 34, when the risk goes beyond 1 in 500.

Rather than using age as a magical cut off point for getting pregnant; mums-to-be should decide if they are right to get pregnant based on their own fitness and health. A pre-pregnancy check up is always a good idea when your pregnancy is planned to allow any health issues to be addressed first. If you want to remain healthy and active well into your children’s adulthood, the most important thing is to be fit, before during and after pregnancy – keep on exercising for life.