Are you an older mum?
With the latest statistics from Statistics New Zealand, it seems NZ women are having children later in life than we did 10 years ago. Here is the low down on the annual birth rates for the December 2005 year.
* NZ women average 2 births per woman.
* Women aged 30-34 years had the highest birth rate compared to 1995 where women aged 25-29 years had the highes birth rate
* The median age of women giving birth to their first child was 28 years old
* The median age of women giving birth is now 30 years old.
So now, most of us are considered "older mums". Hmm, I bet we didn't really think of ourselves as "older" but since figures show that "older mums" are on the increase with 1 in 10 births are to women over 35. In fact, the number of women having children during this period of their lives has doubled in the last 20 years. The same applies for "really old mums" (40 plus).
In general NZ society has changed in the last 3 decades. Our life expectancy ahs increased for a start. 40 is the new 30 so to speak. So why are we waiting to have our kids?
* waiting longer to comit to our life partner
* tertiary education and then career achievenments take time
* we feel we need to be financially secure before we have a child
To name but a few.
Of course, we are then faced with the increased risks of a 'later' pregnancy such as miscarriages, genetic problems for baby, high blood pressure, low birth weight and a whole lot more. And of course, although it is a lot harder to fall pregnant you have a greater chance of naturally conceiving twins between the ages of 35-39 years. An instant family! So if there is a lot of health risks for both mum and baby why do we wait so long? Is it that the media play a role in our perception of perfection. After all, we only see the stars that have had the perfect pregnancy, perfect baby and have returned to their fabulous pre-pregnancy shape within days of giving birth all to the acclaim fo "at the age of 39". Geena Davis had her first child at 46, Bette Midler at 41, Courtney Cox at 40, Madonna at 38, Sarah Jessica Parker at 37. Elle McPherson had her second baby at 41 and Susan Sarandon had her third child at 45. Does this fill us with a false hope of being able to achieve the same thing?
Well, whatever the age you are when you choose to or have had your children, you will realise that Motherhood is the most beautiful, loving life-time experience that you could ever achieve, no matter what your age is.