The age of motherhood has been delayed in recent years due to a variety of reasons, including the lack of job, economic stability, high ambition, personal issues and zillion other reasons, and with that it is even more relevant to find out “what is the best age to have baby”.
In many countries the average age of first time mother is above 30 years. Experts do not consider that the most suitable age from a physiological point of view.
The best age for you to be a mother in biological terms is 25 years.
Between 20 to 30 years, you have the most favorable conditions to conceive, beget and give birth of a child.
The ovules, like the rest of the cells in the body, also weakens with age, which in turn reduces the chance of getting pregnant at an older age.
You in your 20s while trying to get pregnant in your fertile days has more than 25% chance of getting it right, starting at age 30 you have about 15% chance, from 35 years of age the possibilities decrease to 8%, while that from the age of 38, there is only a 3% chance of properly conceive a baby.
Apart from the difficulty to conceive, the years also weigh on pregnancy.
After age of 35 years, there is greater risk in pregnancy and child birth. Every year beyond 35 years, it only increases the chance of complications during pregnancy, risk of miscarriage and chromosomal abnormalities in the baby.
From the age of 40, gestation generates a greater overload in organs such as the pancreas, liver and cardiovascular system. That increases the possibility of common health issues, such as gestational diabetes, hypertension, fluctuating blood pressure, which might affects pregnancy or at least make it harder for you to have a baby.
In today’s society, many couples delay the time to start a family. The factors are many, such as lack of job and economic stability, problems with the reconciliation between work and personal life, want more time to travel and taking time to enjoy life as a couple etc.
Should I have my first baby at a young age OR Should I delay first baby till it is too late?
While there are different documents, researches, and statistics to prove, besides our doctors expressing their concern that fertility, especially female fertility, decreases year on year faster than their male partners.
There are also some social studies that suggest, having children after 30 years not just okay, but better for your higher education, career, and overall well being as person.
Pregnancy after 30 years is also good for proper upbringing and care of your baby because with age you become more mature, responsible and have clearer ideas about managing different aspects of life.
Based on different studies, and social experiments here are few interesting facts for different age groups, those planning to have baby.
The listed information not exhaustive, these are not to encourage or discourage you at any age to change in plan to have baby.
These are purely information based and these studies are all done in different times on different groups in different conditions.
30 years of age to have first baby
It is the age limit to have children without any type of risk, according to a study from the University of Edinburgh in which it was found that at this time the woman retains 12% of her ovarian reserve.
Therefore, this is the perfect period to conceive your first baby.
32 years of age is the age to plan only baby
Mentioning the age of 32 years to have baby in particular is very interesting!
According to a Dutch study, considering different aspects of life 32 years of age is the best age to have baby in case you want to have only one child.
34 years of age is the optimal age to have baby
According to a study by the National Institute of Aging and Mental Health in the United Kingdom, 34 years is the optimal age to have a baby, since women are more prepared to face the education of their children.
“Premature motherhood interferes with the level of education and predisposes women to single parenthood, unemployment and poverty”
Professor John Mirowsky
35 years of age and beyond makes it little harder to conceive
If you want to settle for a family at later age, this is the time to freeze your eggs. This is according to a study conducted by the University Hospital Quirón-Dexeus of Barcelona.
Doctors also suggest that if you want to have children, you should not postpone much beyond this age to have baby.
About 35 years of age onward, the risk of alterations in the number of chromosomes of the embryo increase progressively. This makes it more likely to suffer spontaneous abortions and to have babies with Down Syndrome and other Chromosomal Alterations.
40 years of age is still not too late to have baby
According the research work of the University of Edinburgh, it is generally accepted that female fertility reduces by half and that woman only keep 3% of their ovarian reserve around 40 years of their age.
However, The Office of National Statistics of the United Kingdom in 2014 showed that the pregnancy rates in women over 40 years of age have doubled in recent years.
This is probably due to the advance in assisted reproduction methods, which are in constant evolution. Also prenatal vitamins for handling very specific nutritional deficiencies help in many ways.
Beneficial foods as you age and plan to have a baby
- Chard: Chard favors the functioning of the organism and helps to reduce the risk of polycystic ovaries, one of the main causes of female infertility.
- Avocado: The Omega-3 fatty acids contained in the avocado increase fertility, since it provides various enzymes necessary for ovum formation and maturation.
These also help in efficient ovulation, since it improves the overall quality of the oocytes.
- Garlic: It is a great source of selenium, which is an useful mineral to improve fertility. It is also an antioxidant which helps to protect the body from outside attacks and contains Vitamin B6, which helps to regulate hormones.
Garlic also provides large amount of Vitamin C, B1, other minerals such as magnesium, selenium, phosphorus, potassium, iron, and decent amount of calcium.
- Peanuts: These are a source of vegetable proteins, approximately 30% and healthy fat for the body, at the same level as the precious soy.
In addition, peanuts have carbohydrates and a high fiber content as well as various minerals such as potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, flatus and zinc, an essential mineral that regulates the female reproductive systems.
- Canons: Like most green leaves, these are rich in folic acid. This Vitamin B group prevents defects in the baby’s neural tube and intervenes in the formation of red blood cells.
- Spinach: Rich in antioxidants, iron, Vitamin E, folic acid and other B Vitamins. One normal serving provides many of the essential nutrients your body needs for a healthy reproductive system.
Folic acid is the key for optimizing the production of healthy eggs, while iron and antioxidants help improve their quality.
- Berries: Raspberries, blackberries or wild blueberries are very rich in antioxidants, which protect cells from damage caused by free radicals in DNA and mitochondria.
Strawberries, for example, help to combat anemia by the amount of minerals they contain, among which iron plays an important role. It’s caloric intake is low and it contents high water, so these are good to keep us hydrated.
Blueberries and blackberries are powerful antioxidants, these improve blood circulation and control blood cholesterol levels.
Final thought on “Perfect Age To Have Baby”
Your decision to make your family a “complete” family is entirely your personal call and not surprisingly that depends on multiple factors, while some are dependent on situations, some are purely based on perception.
Unfortunately, one real and unavoidable factor is age. As there is minimum age to conceive a baby, there is optimal age to have a baby as well.
It is never too late for you as there are nutrients for better nutrition during pregnancy, technologies to freeze your eggs, recent advancement in assisted reproduction methods and ever evolving science to help you.
