Four decades ago, the median age of females giving birth was 25, while today it is 30.7. Similarly, the median age of females at first birth has been pushed five years later to 29.3. The age group with the highest fertility rate (births per female) are those 30 to 34.
One factor impacting the birth rate is the age at which women first become mothers. And the mean reached a high of 27.3 years in 2021, up from 27.1 in 2020.
Australia Has Babies Early
In Australia, the average age for having a first child is 30 years old. The range of age for first-time motherhood in Australia is 25-45 years old. Late motherhood is very common in Australia, with work and financial considerations being key factors here.
Geriatric pregnancy is a rarely used term for having a baby when you're 35 or older. Rest assured, most healthy women who get pregnant after age 35 and even into their 40s have healthy babies.
The average age of first-time mothers in America is now 26, while for fathers, it's 31. “One important implication of waiting to have children is the health risks that both new mothers and their infants may face when a first-time birth parent is 35 or older,” Dr. Mooney says.
As you get closer to 40, it's biologically more difficult to get pregnant and you may have a higher risk of miscarriage, chromosomal issues, and other pregnancy complications. But most women in their 30s will get pregnant with little trouble.
For anyone who is looking to become pregnant after 30 or 35, experts suggest planning the first pregnancy before 37 years old. This increases the chances of having at least one child before fertility declines further. Some people who are around or over the age of 35 freeze their eggs to use later.
Down syndrome occurs in people of all races and economic levels. The risk increases with the mother's age (1 in 1250 for a 25 year old mother to 1 in 1000 at age 31, 1 in 400 at age 35, and about 1 in 100 at age 40). However, 80% of babies with Down syndrome are born to women under age 35 years.
Trouble conceiving: Starting in their early 30s, women become less fertile, and it may take them longer to get pregnant. Complications during pregnancy: Women older than age 35 have a higher risk for diabetes and high blood pressure during pregnancy. Older women are also more likely to be pregnant with multiples.
The median age (half are younger and half older than this age) of New Zealand women giving birth was 30 years in 2017. In comparison, the median age of women giving birth in the 1970s was 25 years.
But an increased stress might become an issue for women in their 50s and beyond. "Because of this, most Australian doctors would recommend an upper limit of 50 to 52 for a woman to actually carry a pregnancy."
Section 11 of the Children and Young People Act 2008 (ACT) defines a child as a person who is under 12 years old, and section 12 defines a young person as a person who is 12 years old or older but not yet an adult.
In 2021, the total fertility rate in the United States remained nearly unchanged at around 1.66 children per woman. Nevertheless, this was the first time during the observed period that the fertility rate increased in the United States.
One study estimated a woman can have around 15 pregnancies in a lifetime. And depending on how many babies she births for each pregnancy, she'd probably have around 15-30 children.
One third of all couples conceive within about 18 months after the birth of their previous child, making the median age interval between children 24-29 months. Although shorter age gaps are more common than larger age gaps, 5% of births occur with age intervals as large as 10 years.
A woman's peak reproductive years are between the late teens and late 20s. By age 30, fertility (the ability to get pregnant) starts to decline. This decline happens faster once you reach your mid-30s. By 45, fertility has declined so much that getting pregnant naturally is unlikely.
But when it comes to your health later in life, waiting until your 30s to give birth is better. Research shows that moms who first gave birth in their early 30s report higher energy, better fitness, and fewer aches and pains compared to moms who first gave birth in their early 20s.
Fertility in the Aging Female
Each month that she tries, a healthy, fertile 30-year-old woman has a 20% chance of getting pregnant. That means that for every 100 fertile 30-year-old women trying to get pregnant in 1 cycle, 20 will be successful and the other 80 will have to try again.
A pregnancy that begins after age 35 is classified as a high-risk pregnancy because the risk of complications is higher, not inevitable. Many of the problems that occur with pregnancies after age 35 are related to health conditions that occur more often as you age.
Although women older than 35 years of age make up a small portion of all births6 in the United States each year, about nearly one-half of babies with Down syndrome are born to women in this age group.
A recent study suggests that a 20-year-old father doubles the chance of Down syndrome as compared to one who's 40.
If you are thinking about having a baby in your late thirties or early forties, you are not alone. Women ages 35-45 are increasingly becoming first-time moms. And most healthy women in this age group have healthy pregnancies, births and babies.
A reassuring study found that women ages 30-34 have an 86% chance of getting pregnant within one year of trying, and a 94% chance of conceiving after two years. For women ages 35-39, there's an 82% chance of conceiving after one year, and a 90% chance of conceiving after two years.