The phrase about the ticking clock is now perceived by many as a joke, but the debate about when and how many children should be born is being taken quite seriously. Recently families need to have 3-4 children – this figure is explained by the desire of some countries to correct the demographic situation. When it comes to the ideal age of a mother, some insist that a woman should get on her feet and only then think about having children, others that while you get on your feet, the notorious clock will tick, and you won’t be able to give birth. If the argument of the first relates more to personal beliefs, then the second is quite verifiable. We asked doctors to tell us how many resources the female body actually has and whether it is so bad to be among the “old-timers”.
At what age should you give birth?
In fact, there is no universal advice: the body is different for the body, and each woman’s reproductive system is individual.
The optimal age of childbearing is recognized from 18 to 40 years. This interval is considered the safest, acceptable for both the expectant mother and the child.
Optimally, the reproductive system works at the same time as other body systems: cardiovascular, urinary, respiratory. Therefore, it is best to become pregnant and give birth before the age of 35. After that, the state of the ovaries is already changing, there are fewer follicles, the likelihood of pregnancy is reduced. But it still remains, so not everything is lost.
Is a mother’s youth a guarantee of a child’s health?
Not necessary. With age, the risks really increase: the older the woman, the more her own diseases and disorders in the body that can adversely affect the fetus. But no less important is how the expectant mother relates to her health.
Of course, with age, everyone accumulates some kind of chronic diseases, pathologies, deficiencies. Therefore, it is believed that the later a woman enters the phase of childbearing, the greater the likelihood of negative consequences for mother and child. But modern realities are such that if a woman takes care of her health, regularly goes through check-ups, eats right, leads a healthy lifestyle and is observed by specialized specialists in the presence of diseases, prevents them and prophylactic – in this case, age can play, on the contrary, in favor, because a woman approaches this issue more consciously. We also have young patients, 20–22 years old, who already have huge health problems due to the fact that they are not seen by doctors, they treat their health carelessly.
With age, there are risks of chromosomal disorders that lead to miscarriages, stillbirths and illness in the child. The most well-known to the general public is Down syndrome. But the risk of chromosomal disorders increases with age, not only for the mother, but also for the father. So in this sense, men’s clocks are also ticking.
When a woman is transferred to the category of old-bearing?
Never. Doctors do not use this term at all anymore.
Doctors do not write this in diagnoses, because this characteristic does not apply in any way either to diseases or to a woman. Such a concept is absent in modern obstetrics.
Can you run out of eggs?
They can, there are really a limited number of them – eggs are laid in the body of an intrauterine fetus. Then they die en masse, while the girl grows and matures, by the beginning of the reproductive period there are several tens of thousands of them.
If there are no follicles, the hormonal state changes and premature menopause occurs. This is a very infrequent phenomenon, but with it it will no longer be possible to restore the female body.
The number of eggs depends on the individual characteristics of the organism, and it is impossible to say when they run out. But there are a number of studies that help track it.
What should a woman do if she wants to give birth, but then?
Since the resources of the body are finite, it is important to be regularly observed by an obstetrician-gynecologist.
If a woman wants to delay her pregnancy very much, then she can resort to freezing her own eggs. And then, when she is ready, use this material. Three months before the onset of pregnancy, a woman and her partner need to consult a doctor, conduct a complete check-up, start taking certain vitamins and minerals that are necessary for the pregnancy to proceed safely and the fetus does not have any chromosomal abnormalities and abnormalities, exclude alcohol, establish a regimen sleep and wakefulness.
Another recommendation from doctors is to avoid abortions and use effective contraception. Modern methods are more gentle than 20 or 30 years ago, but any manipulation can have complications.
Is not giving birth at all harmful to health?
The body of every woman, in any case, is programmed to ensure that she leaves offspring. Therefore, women who for some reason refuse pregnancy tend to have a number of gynecological and endocrine diseases.
It is worth noting that without pregnancy, a woman has an increased risk of endometrial hyperplasia, the formation of functional ovarian cysts, the development of fibroids and endometriosis. Our grandmothers gave birth to 6-8 children and menstruated no more than 50 times in their entire lives. Women now give birth to an average of 1 child and menstruate up to 500 times, which puts them at the same risk as those who have not given birth.
At the same time, doctors say that if a woman regularly undergoes medical examinations, visits a doctor, takes an annual smear for HPV and oncocytology, does an ultrasound of the pelvic organs and mammary glands, then she has every chance to maintain her reproductive health, even without giving birth.
