How Long to Wait for Baby: Age and Pregnancy Facts

from 2022_05_EtcMagazine_Volume21_Issue6

Love Smells Like My Grandma Kate’s Home

AVERA HEALTH

Time waits for no one – including women who hope to have families. More moms are waiting – the average age of firsttime moms in the U.S. is now 27 – but with the wait can come complications. So when is the right time?

“The best age for a woman to get pregnant is when she is ready,” said Catherine Brockmeier, DO, Avera Medical Group Obstetrics/ Gynecology. “With that in mind, a woman should know her ability to conceive goes down as she ages. Potential pregnancy complications go up, too.”

Preparing women to have families in a safe way is vital, and here are the facts. Factors for Healthy Pregnancy Other Than Age

Most chronic conditions like high blood pressure or high cholesterol come later in life, not just for women, but everyone. “Diabetes and cardiovascular disease tend to develop later in the 20s or in the early 30s,” said Brockmeier.

“No single factor is most important or the most serious threat,” she said. “It’s best to achieve pregnancy at optimal health, and many things figure into optimal health.”

Working with a health care provider can help ensure that ideal level of health is closer for women who want to have a child.

Ability to Conceive Changes with Age, Too

Most women who are 25 have about a 25% chance of getting pregnant during each menstrual cycle. As they age, the chances decrease. The decline increases every five years: • 20% at age 30 • 12% at age 35 • Less than 5% at age 40

“These numbers are a general guideline, but they can vary,” Brockmeier said. Other factors that can reduce the chance of pregnancy include: • Smoking or tobacco use • Cancer treatments such as radiation and chemotherapy • Pelvic infections

“Like ideal health, the conception chance also includes a wide number of factors,” said Brockmeier. Regular checkups with your provider, along with healthy lifestyle choices, add up for the better health of mom and baby.

Why Age 35 is Often a Benchmark

When women reach 35, they reach advanced maternal age and several complication risks increase. “Age 35 is when the risk of having a baby affected by Down syndrome and the risks associated with amniocentesis, which is a procedure to confirm genetics, converge,” said Javier Kovacs, MD, Maternal-Fetal Medicine specialist physician with Avera Medical Group Maternal Fetal Medicine Sioux Falls. “Women over 35 will have increased risks of a number of complications.”

Those can include the following, listed by the trimester in which they are most likely to show up: • First trimester: Miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, chromosomal abnormalities • Second trimester: Gestational diabetes, growth restriction, placenta Previa, stillbirth • Third trimester: Gestational diabetes, hypertensive disorder, preterm delivery, cesarean delivery

How – and When – to Best Prepare for Pregnancy

See your provider for a preconception visit to increase the likelihood of a safe, healthy pregnancy. If scheduled properly, it’s something you can do during an annual checkup.

“A preconception visit is really about taking a thorough history to review past medical, surgical, social and family history,” said Brockmeier. “It’s an opportunity to discuss patient-specific pregnancy related risks and concerns.”

She said moms working with their doctors can collaborate to modify some changeable things. Women should also stop tobacco use, limit alcohol intake and consider nutrition and nutrients.

“We can discuss the use of folic acid, which women need for healthy development of the fetus’ nervous system,” she said. “This nutrient specifically reduces the risk of neural tubal defects.”

Optimizing your body weight to be at a healthy body mass index (BMI) is also important. “At this visit we can find ways for you to exercise regularly, and ensure you’re current on vaccinations,” Brockmeier added. She said women can also get answers on questions about labor and delivery, too.

Get more expert tips from our providers through the Avera virtual Maybe a Baby program.

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Easy and Cute DIY Mother's Day Cards

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Submit Your Pet’s Photo

Easy and Cute BY JESS WEISCHEDEL DIY Mother’s Day Cards

Shower Mom with Love Card

Materials: cardstock or construction paper in light blue and red, cupcake liner in any color, black marker, and a glue stick.

Fold a light blue sheet of paper in half, creating what resembles a greeting card. Cut your cupcake liner in half, and glue it onto the middle of the front of the folded card with the straight (cut) side of the liner on the bottom and the curved side pointing up. Next, draw the handle of an umbrella below your cupcake liner using a black marker. From red paper, cut out several small hearts. An easy way to do this is by cutting small squares from the paper, then folding them in half and drawing the shape of half a heart to cut out from the squares. This will make the tiny hearts as symmetrical as you can get them if that’s what you prefer. Glue these hearts at the top of the paper above your umbrella, with some going down around the sides. Finish your card with a cute drawing and a personal message to your mom inside. Add a clever rain or umbrella-related quote below the umbrella on the cover, such as “Showering You with Love”, and proudly give it to your mom along with some quality snuggles!

Pop-Up Tulip Heart Card

Materials: Construction paper, green marker, scissors, glue, and paper clips.

Choose a sheet of construction paper in the color you want to use for the outline of your card, which will be cut into a heart shape. Fold the paper in half and cut a heart from the corner of the folded edge, curving out, up, and slightly down at the top of the folded edge. This should create the shape of a symmetrical heart when the cut-out is unfolded. Fold a different color of paper in half, yet this time cutting a smaller heart shape from the folded side. Glue this heart to the inside of the larger heart. From green paper, cut a rectangle shape out for the stem of your flower, which will be the center of your Mother’s Day card. Glue the stem to the bottom center of your hearts, leaving room above for the petals. Next, cut out two green leaf shapes and glue them to the bottom portion of the heart, one on each side of the stem you just made. Let the glue dry. Once completely dry, fold the heart in half. If there are any remnants of dried glue, be sure to tidy it up a bit before you do any folding. The next step is to create the tulip flower shape from paper. A tulip works the same way a heart does when it comes to making a symmetrical paper cut-out. Fold some paper in your choice of color in half, then cut out a half tulip shape. Once you have one you are happy with, you can use the first one as a stencil for the next ones. You can also cut out multiple ones at a time if you are using thinner paper, making it easier to create several at once. The more you have, the better, and you can use the same color for this part or make it a multi-colored tulip by cutting tulips out from paper in all of Mom’s favorite colors. Once all the tulips are cut, fold them in half. Leaving the insides alone, glue each tulip shape together connecting their outer halves, until they are layered and lined up on top of one another. Now apply glue on one half of the outside of the stacked tulips, and press it down into the card, lining it up with the stem and matching up the folds of the tulip and the hearts. Apply glue to the other half of the tulip and close the card so the glue can set and fully dry. Secure with paper clips, or place something heavy on top of where the tulip is located inside the card, so it adheres as best as it can. Once it is dry, your pop-up tulip card is ready to give to the best mom ever!

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