Pregnancy After 40 – What Problems Does a Woman Face?

Advanced maternal age pregnancies are becoming increasingly common. In fact, any woman who becomes pregnant after the age of 35 is classed as having this type of pregnancy. However, when a pregnancy after 40 years of age occurs there are risks involved. For women who have a tubal ligation reversal and who are correct in thinking they can welcome a miracle back into their lives, this higher risk still holds for those who want a pregnancy after 40. You just need to be aware of the potential problems and this article gives you a little insight.

Women who become pregnant after they are forty are at a higher risk of their children having a genetic abnormality. Plus, as a woman gets older, there is a greater risk of complications occurring during the pregnancy and at the time the baby is delivered.

For any woman who is over the age of 40, there are certain things that need to take into consideration before they start trying to conceive another child. One of the things that needs to be taken into consideration is that as a woman gets older her level of fertility decreases. Therefore the chances of being able to conceive a child naturally are reduced. So while a tubal ligation reversal may connect the fallopian tubes back together, there may still be a reduced fertility problem if you are over 40 meaning you will have a harder time becoming pregnant than a younger woman.

As mentioned above, there is an increased chance of the child being born with a genetic abnormality. One of the most common ones that can occur in women who become pregnant later on in life is that her child will have Down Syndrome. In fact, in a woman’s pregnancy after 40, there is a 1 in 42 chance that her child will be born with this chromosomal problem. However, for women of this age, an additional test known as amniocentesis can be carried out to determine if the child has this problem or not.

For a woman over 40 who does undergo an amniocentesis test when she becomes pregnant, she needs to be aware that there is a risk to taking the test as well. When the test is carried out, there is a risk of losing the baby. However, this risk is small. In fact, the chances of it occurring is 1 in 200. Any woman considering having this test carried out should look at it carefully and weigh the pros and cons with advice from her doctor.

Other health issues in a pregnancy after 40 include preterm labor, high blood pressure, diabetes and preeclampsia possibly leading to eclampsia. However, a woman’s age is not the only factor in having these problems. Other factors should be taken into consideration also.

Those women who lead unhealthy lifestyles are just as likely to develop these problems no matter what their age when they become pregnant. But as there is a greater risk of women developing these problems when there are older, they will need to be more carefully monitored throughout the pregnancy after 40 by their doctor or other health professional.

This is even more true when a woman’s pregnancy after 40 occurs and following them undergoing a tubal ligation reversal surgery. It is important for a woman undergoing this procedure to use a surgeon who has plenty of experience in tubal ligation reversal surgery. This will not only increase her chances of having a child naturally but by following the protocol he gives you go a long way to ensuring that you don’t suffer from some of the medical problems mentioned above.