The challenge of elderly childbearing to maternal health
Elderly childbearing refers to the pregnancy and childbirth of women in the age range of 35 years and above. With the progress of modern medical technology and people's pursuit of quality of life, more and more women choose to delay childbirth. However, the elderly childbirth will produce a series of challenges to the maternal body, which has aroused widespread concern. This article will elaborate from four aspects: pregnancy risk, fetal health, delivery mode and postoperative recovery.
Pregnancy risk
The risk of pregnancy increases with the age of women. The endometrium of elderly women becomes thinner and the ability of implantation is weakened, which easily leads to the increase of the incidence of spontaneous abortion and ectopic pregnancy. In addition, older women are more likely to suffer from complications such as pregnancy induced hypertension, diabetes and amniotic fluid embolism, which increases the risk of mothers and fetuses.
Pregnant women also face a higher risk of chromosomal abnormalities in the course of older pregnancy. The probability of fetuses suffering from Down syndrome, Edwards syndrome and other common chromosomal diseases is significantly increased. The occurrence of these problems will impose a huge mental and physical burden on mothers, which needs closer monitoring and treatment.
In addition to the above risks, older women also have a higher risk of water breakthrough and premature delivery than younger women. This will have a greater impact on the survival and development of the fetus, which requires reasonable intervention and treatment by doctors.
Fetal health
Older childbearing will also have a certain impact on the health of the fetus. Because the mother is older, the probability of fetal chromosome abnormalities is significantly increased, such as Down syndrome. The probability of these fetuses becoming ill will make families face psychological and economic pressure from fertility, and will also have a negative impact on the quality of life and development of fetuses.
In the process of fetal development, older mothers also face the risk of premature delivery and low birth weight. This means that the fetus may need longer hospitalization and monitoring, which increases the consumption of medical resources and the economic burden of families.
In addition, older childbearing also increases the risk of children suffering from autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other developmental disorders. These diseases will bring some troubles to children's study and life, and will also bring additional pressure to family's daily life.
Mode of delivery
Due to the decline of physical function and the increase of complications during pregnancy, elderly women often need to choose cesarean section. Compared with natural delivery, cesarean section is more harmful to the mother's body and has a longer recovery time. In addition, cesarean section also has risks of infection, bleeding and surgical trauma, which increases the incidence of postoperative complications.
Postoperative recovery
In the process of recovery after delivery, the elderly parturient's body recovers slowly and needs a longer time to recover to the state before pregnancy. The experience of childbirth has caused some damage to the pelvic and pelvic floor muscles of the parturient, which is easy to lead to pelvic floor dysfunction and urinary incontinence.
In addition, older mothers may also face greater problems of milk shortage, which will affect the feeding and growth of infants. Lack of milk will make mothers feel powerless when feeding their children, and also increase the tension between mother and baby.
In general, the elderly childbearing poses many challenges to the maternal health, including pregnancy risks, fetal health, delivery methods and postoperative recovery. Therefore, when considering elderly childbearing, mothers need to fully understand and be prepared, and keep close communication and monitoring with doctors to ensure their own and fetal health.
