Impact of Maternal Age on Obstetric Outcome

Abstract

Increasing maternal age is independently associated with specific adverse pregnancy outcomes. Increasing age is a continuum rather than a threshold effect.

Pregnancy at very advanced maternal age: a UK population‐based cohort study

“…Nearly one in six women giving birth at very advanced maternal age in our study developed a gestational hypertensive disorder with nearly 1 in 10 developing pregnancy‐induced hypertension and just over 1 in 20 developing pre‐eclampsia. Although these rates were around three‐fold higher than in the comparison women, they are in the lower range of the rates reported for women aged ≥45 years,7, 13 but generally higher than rates quoted in contemporary studies for women of more modest advanced maternal age (≥35 or ≥40 years) 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20. Nearly one in five women giving birth at very advanced maternal age in our study developed gestational diabetes, around five‐fold higher than the rate in the comparison group with differences persisting after adjustment for potential confounding and mediating factors.…”

“…Most of the previous literature has reported an association between advanced maternal age and preterm delivery without separating out type of preterm delivery; our estimated rate of preterm delivery is in the higher range of the rates reported for women aged ≥45 years7, 13 and is generally higher than in studies examining women of more modestly advanced maternal age 15, 18, 19, 24, 25. Except for the higher rate of low birthweight infants, which appears to be largely linked to the high preterm delivery rate, other infant outcomes were comparable between the older and comparison women in our study.…”

“…Nearly one in five women giving birth at very advanced maternal age in our study developed gestational diabetes, around five‐fold higher than the rate in the comparison group with differences persisting after adjustment for potential confounding and mediating factors. This rate is in the higher range of the rates that have been reported 7, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20. Our rate of postpartum haemorrhage, diagnosed in just over one‐quarter of women of very advanced maternal age, was also higher than those quoted 13, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21.…”

Dysregulation of methylation and expression of imprinted genes in oocytes and reproductive tissues in mice of advanced maternal age

“…However, delaying pregnancy has increased the reliance on assisted reproduction due to decreased natural pregnancy success with increasing maternal age [2][3][4][5]. Over 176,000 assisted reproductive technology (ART) cycles were performed in 2012; 60 % of women who underwent an assisted reproduction cycle were over the age of 35, and 17 % were over the age of 40 [2].…”

“…There is a potential link between maternal age and imprinting disorders, such as Angelman syndrome and Beckwith-Wiedermann syndrome, as these disorders are more prevalent in the offspring from older women [20,21]. Furthermore, maternal age has been associated with developmental abnormalities, including low birth weight in women [3,22,23] and mares [24].…”