The Most Appropriate Age for Childbirth is 'Early 30s'
Health Worsens with Delayed First Birth Due to Complications
Pregnancy Over 45 Increases Autism Risk by 54%
In the face of the increasingly serious low birthrate situation, a study investigating the age group of mothers with the lowest risk factors threatening the health of mothers and newborns has been published. The best age range for childbirth was found to be the early 30s.
On the 21st, a research team from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology (Professors Oh Su-young and Sung Hee-ji) and the Clinical Epidemiology Research Center (Professors Jo Soo-hee and Kim Dan-bi) at Samsung Medical Center analyzed various impacts on the health of newborns and mothers as the age of first childbirth increases, concluding that the optimal age for first childbirth is the early 30s.
The study was conducted based on data from the National Health Insurance Service of 3,685,817 women who gave birth to their first child between 2005 and 2019. The researchers divided the mothers into six age groups at the time of their first childbirth: ▲24 years or younger (150,818) ▲25?29 years (845,355) ▲30?34 years (1,738,299) ▲35?39 years (787,530) ▲40?44 years (151,519) ▲45 years or older (9,296).
The researchers reported that generally, the later the first childbirth occurs, the higher the rate of negative effects on maternal health, such as pregnancy complications. The incidence of gestational hypertension was 2.5% among mothers aged 24 or younger, but increased fourfold to 10.2% in mothers aged 45 or older. The cesarean section rate was 29.5% for mothers 24 or younger, but more than doubled to 74% for those 45 or older.
When examining the relative risk of preterm birth, defined as delivery before the scheduled gestational age, by age group, the rates were ▲24 years or younger (16%) ▲30?34 years (7%) ▲35?39 years (26%) ▲40?44 years (55%) ▲45 years or older (85%). The risk of autism in newborns was 18% for mothers 24 or younger, but 54% for those 45 or older, indicating a higher probability of autism in children born to older mothers. Conversely, the risk of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and cognitive developmental delay was highest among mothers aged 24 or younger (43%).
Based on these findings, the researchers concluded that the optimal age for first childbirth is the early 30s. However, the study has a limitation in that it did not analyze the effects of the father's age on the newborn. Professor Oh noted, "It is already well known from overseas studies that not only the mother's age but also the father's age significantly affects the long-term prognosis of the newborn."
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) defines advanced maternal age for first-time mothers as 35 years or older at the time of first pregnancy. According to Statistics Korea, the proportion of advanced maternal age mothers aged 35 or older in Seoul increased significantly from 27.0% in 2015 to 42.3% in 2022. In response, Seoul City announced that to reduce the prenatal care burden for pregnant women aged 35 or older and support healthy childbirth, it will provide outpatient care and examination fees up to 500,000 KRW per pregnancy for mothers aged 35 or older, regardless of income, to monitor the health status of mothers and fetuses during pregnancy based on the expected delivery date.
Additionally, the natural pregnancy success rate is 29% at age 35, 25% at 39, 22% at 40, 18% at 41, and 15% at 42, showing a sharp decline. The reason pregnancy becomes more difficult with age is presumed to be due to a decrease in both the quantity and quality of eggs as women age.
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