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Best Practice & Research. Clinical... Jan 2021Advanced maternal age is becoming an increasingly relevant issue in high-income developed countries. Lower fertility, greater need for assisted reproductive therapy, and... (Review)
Review
Advanced maternal age is becoming an increasingly relevant issue in high-income developed countries. Lower fertility, greater need for assisted reproductive therapy, and an increase in comorbidities, such as hypertension and diabetes, are some of the reasons for the rise in adverse maternal and fetal outcomes. This chapter reviews and summarizes the recent publications on the impact of advanced maternal age on pregnancy outcomes.
Topics: Female; Fertility; Humans; Maternal Age; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Outcome; Reproductive Techniques, Assisted
PubMed: 32773291
DOI: 10.1016/j.bpobgyn.2020.06.006 -
Best Practice & Research. Clinical... Jan 2021Pregnancies at an advanced reproductive age are increasingly common. However, the safety of pregnancy remains a concern as maternal age is a recognized independent... (Review)
Review
Pregnancies at an advanced reproductive age are increasingly common. However, the safety of pregnancy remains a concern as maternal age is a recognized independent factor for various obstetric complications. Also, age is a risk factor for most systematic health problems and older women are more likely to enter into pregnancy with pre-existing conditions. At the moment there is no separate, structured guidance on preconception tests at advanced maternal age. However, the preconceptual period offers an ideal window to recognize and address underlying health issues, social issues and harmful lifestyle behaviours in order to optimize maternal health ultimately reducing infertility, perinatal morbidity and mortality. Preconception tests should be clinically relevant aiming to identify risk factors and address them to predict and prevent infertility and pregnancy complications. The importance of preconception care is magnified for women of advanced age for whom the risks are higher and the potential benefits greater.
Topics: Aged; Female; Humans; Maternal Age; Preconception Care; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications; Risk Factors
PubMed: 33358154
DOI: 10.1016/j.bpobgyn.2020.11.003 -
Best Practice & Research. Clinical... Jan 2021A delay in childbearing to later in life has increased the number of women of advanced maternal age (AMA) opting for assisted reproduction. Women should be made aware... (Review)
Review
A delay in childbearing to later in life has increased the number of women of advanced maternal age (AMA) opting for assisted reproduction. Women should be made aware that there are age-related changes to fertility, including a decline in oocyte reserve and quality, in addition to an increase in the number of oocyte chromosomal aberrations. Success rates of assisted reproductive technology (ART) cycles decrease with advanced maternal age. There are different fertility options for women of AMA, including fertility preservation (oocyte or embryo freezing), in vitro fertilisation (IVF treatment) with or without preimplantation genetic screening and oocyte or embryo donation. Detailed counselling needs to be offered to these women with regard to the risks, success rates, ethical and legal implications of these fertility treatment options. Women of AMA should be screened for underlying medical conditions that could have an impact on maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality.
Topics: Embryo Disposition; Female; Fertility; Fertilization in Vitro; Humans; Maternal Age; Pregnancy; Reproductive Techniques, Assisted
PubMed: 32921559
DOI: 10.1016/j.bpobgyn.2020.06.012 -
Best Practice & Research. Clinical... Jan 2021In 2017, 23% of all live births in the United Kingdom were to women aged over 35 years. Decisions around the timing of delivery for such women must balance the risks of... (Review)
Review
In 2017, 23% of all live births in the United Kingdom were to women aged over 35 years. Decisions around the timing of delivery for such women must balance the risks of prolongation of the pregnancy and of iatrogenic harm from timed delivery. Women of advanced maternal age have a small age-related elevated risk of term stillbirth. Antenatal monitoring and the route of delivery should not differ from those for younger women. The induction of labour at 39 weeks for such women does not appear to increase the risk of emergency caesarean section or to have any short-term adverse effects on mother or baby. There have been no studies on the long-term effects of induction in this group. Nevertheless, it seems reasonable to offer women of advanced maternal age, induction of labour at 39 weeks where resources are available to safely provide this.
Topics: Adult; Aged; Cesarean Section; Female; Humans; Infant; Labor, Induced; Maternal Age; Pregnancy; Stillbirth; United Kingdom
PubMed: 32739289
DOI: 10.1016/j.bpobgyn.2020.06.005 -
Fertility and Sterility Feb 2020
Topics: Female; Fertilization in Vitro; Humans; Infertility; Maternal Age; Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic
PubMed: 32106977
DOI: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2019.11.004 -
Journal of Health Economics Jul 2022This paper analyses the effects of maternal age at birth on children's short and long-term outcomes using Finnish register data. We exploit a school starting age rule...
This paper analyses the effects of maternal age at birth on children's short and long-term outcomes using Finnish register data. We exploit a school starting age rule for identification. Mothers who are born after the school entry cut-off give birth at higher age, but total fertility and earnings are unaffected. Being born after the cut-off reduces gestation and, hence, child birth weight. The effects on birth weight and gestation are rather small, however, suggesting that the long-run impacts may be limited. Accordingly, we find no impacts on longer-term child outcomes, such as educational attainment and adolescent crime rates. Thus, using this source of variation, we find no favorable average effects of maternal age at birth on child outcomes.
Topics: Adolescent; Birth Weight; Child; Educational Status; Female; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Maternal Age; Mothers; Schools
PubMed: 35633595
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2022.102637 -
The Journal of Maternal-fetal &... Dec 2023This systematic review aimed to understand the impact of advanced maternal age (AMA) on the neonatal morbidity, based on the available scientific evidence. (Review)
Review
OBJECTIVE
This systematic review aimed to understand the impact of advanced maternal age (AMA) on the neonatal morbidity, based on the available scientific evidence.
METHODS
A systematic search was conducted on 22 November 2021, using the PubMed and Scopus databases to identify studies that compared the morbidity of neonates delivered to AMA mothers with that of neonates delivered to non-AMA mothers.
RESULTS
Sixteen studies that evaluated the effect of AMA on the neonatal morbidity were included in this review. Nine of these studies found some association between AMA and increased neonatal morbidity (with two of them only reporting an increase in asymptomatic hypoglycemia, and one only reporting an association in twins), six found no association between AMA and neonatal morbidity and one study found a decrease in morbidity in preterm neonates. The studies that found an increase in overall neonatal morbidity with AMA considered older ages for the definition of AMA, particularly ≥40 and ≥45 years.
CONCLUSION
The current evidence seems to support a lack of association between AMA and the neonatal morbidity of the delivered neonates. However, more studies focusing on the neonatal outcomes of AMA pregnancies are needed to better understand this topic.
Topics: Infant, Newborn; Pregnancy; Female; Humans; Maternal Age; Mothers; Morbidity
PubMed: 38016703
DOI: 10.1080/14767058.2023.2287981 -
Demography Dec 2022Demographers and family researchers have long debated whether early childbearing has negative consequences on the offspring, but few have considered that the benefits of...
Demographers and family researchers have long debated whether early childbearing has negative consequences on the offspring, but few have considered that the benefits of delayed childbearing (or the lack thereof) may not be universal. Using sibling data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 Children and Young Adults, we investigate how the relevance of mothers' age at childbirth to youth outcomes (academic performance, years of education completed, and psychological distress) may differ for youth whose early-childhood behavioral disposition (i.e., temperament) indicated varying degrees of insecure attachment. Results from family fixed-effects models, which take into account much of the unobserved heterogeneity among families, show that having an older mother is associated with improved educational and psychological outcomes for youth with a rather insecure early temperament. In contrast, mothers' age at childbirth hardly matters for children with a secure disposition. Further analysis indicates that the moderating effect of maternal age cannot be explained by the mother's first-birth timing, education, work status, income, or family stability. Older mothers' higher likelihood of prior child-rearing experience explains part of the older-mother advantage for temperamentally insecure children. However, the aging process, which equips older mothers with enhanced maturity, more calmness, and therefore greater capacity to overcome adversities, seems to account for the smaller detrimental effects of an insecure disposition on their children.
Topics: Child, Preschool; Humans; Female; Adolescent; Maternal Age; Mothers; Siblings
PubMed: 36286932
DOI: 10.1215/00703370-10293348 -
Scientific Reports Feb 2019Maternal age has a negative effect on offspring lifespan in a range of taxa and is hypothesized to influence the evolution of aging. However, the mechanisms of maternal...
Maternal age has a negative effect on offspring lifespan in a range of taxa and is hypothesized to influence the evolution of aging. However, the mechanisms of maternal age effects are unknown, and it remains unclear if maternal age alters offspring response to therapeutic interventions to aging. Here, we evaluate maternal age effects on offspring lifespan, reproduction, and the response to caloric restriction, and investigate maternal investment as a source of maternal age effects using the rotifer, Brachionus manjavacas, an aquatic invertebrate. We found that offspring lifespan and fecundity decline with increasing maternal age. Caloric restriction increases lifespan in all offspring, but the magnitude of lifespan extension is greater in the offspring from older mothers. The trade-off between reproduction and lifespan extension under low food conditions expected by life history theory is observed in young-mother offspring, but not in old-mother offspring. Age-related changes in maternal resource allocation to reproduction do not drive changes in offspring fitness or plasticity under caloric restriction in B. manjavacas. Our results suggest that the declines in reproduction in old-mother offspring negate the evolutionary fitness benefits of lifespan extension under caloric restriction.
Topics: Aging; Animals; Caloric Restriction; Female; Fertility; Longevity; Male; Maternal Age; Reproduction; Rotifera
PubMed: 30816287
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-40011-z -
The American Naturalist Mar 2022AbstractIn many species, parental age at reproduction can influence offspring performance and life span, but the direction of these effects and the traits affected vary...
AbstractIn many species, parental age at reproduction can influence offspring performance and life span, but the direction of these effects and the traits affected vary among studies. Data on parental age effects are still scarce in noncaptive populations, especially insects, despite species such as fruit flies being models in laboratory-based aging research. We performed a biologically relevant experimental manipulation of maternal and paternal age at reproduction of antler flies () in the laboratory and tracked the adult life span and reproductive success of their male offspring released in the wild. Increased paternal, but not maternal, age somewhat increased sons' adult life span, while parental ages did not influence sons' mating rate or reproductive senescence. Our results indicate that while parental age effects do exist in an insect in the field, they may be beneficial in such a short-lived animal, in contrast to results from most wild vertebrates and laboratory invertebrates.
Topics: Aging; Animals; Diptera; Longevity; Male; Maternal Age; Paternal Age; Reproduction
PubMed: 35175896
DOI: 10.1086/718236