Number of live births to women over 40 nearly triples

May 28, 2010 by Shawn Douglas
Filed under: News

New statistics out of England and Wales shows that in the last 20 years, live births to women over 40 have nearly tripled.

The Office for National Statistics has released figures comparing fertility rates in 2008 and 2009, showing a decrease in women under 35 but an increase in for over 40s.

Of particular interest were the numbers indicating that women aged 40 and over have nearly tripled the number of live births they’ve had over the last 20 years. In 2009, 26,976 babies were born to over 40s, compared to 14,252 in 1999 and 9,336 in 1989.

It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what’s causing the baby boom in women over 40, but many point to career, maturity and financial stability as mitigating factors. But that’s not all of them. BabyChums reported in February that the sexual health charity Family Planning Association was spreading the word that age isn’t contraception. The FPA pointed to abortion numbers for women over 40, suggesting a link between older women having abortions and misconceptions about their fertility.

“The message is that if you’re over 35, although your fertility is declining, it hasn’t disappeared completely,” said the FPA’s website in February.

In an opinion column found on the Mirror website yesterday, Dr. Miriam Stoppard said that NHS should prepare for further increases in the over-40 birth rate.

“I feel strongly that the NHS should automatically provide extra care for older mums, involving extra antenatal clinics and closer monitoring of older mums-to-be,” said Dr. Stoppard. “The challenge is that for this to happen we’d need more midwives, of which there’s already a shortage, and more maternity units, which tend to be closing rather than opening.”

Louise Silverton, deputy general secretary of the Royal College of Midwives, agreed that midwives will continue to be in demand. Silverton told the BBC: “The [overall] birth rate has gone up by 19 percent since 2001 yet the number of midwives has risen by only 11 percent over the same period. The figures also mask the fact that an increasing number of births are becoming more complicated, requiring more of midwives’ time.”

Despite the ONS reporting a 0.3 percent decrease in the number of live births between 2008 and 2009, Silverton says that the NHS shouldn’t be deceived. “This very small decrease in the birth rate should not be used as an excuse to stop or reduce the promised rise in the number of midwives.”