Pregnancy In Your 30s And Beyond

The challenges and joys of having children later in life

- Christa C. Hogan

Laura Stennett of Apex met her husband, Bob, when she was 30. They had trouble getting pregnant, so the couple went to see a fertility specialist. Before she could begin treatment, however, Stennett found she was pregnant. Age 33 at the time, Stennett was considered high risk, even though she was physically fit and healthy.

Being labeled “high risk” didn’t overshadow Stennett’s pregnancy experience. “It was amazing,” she recalls. “I loved being pregnant. I loved everything about it.”

Stennett's pregnancy went smoothly, right up until her delivery at 38 weeks when she endured 25 hours of labor. She avoided a cesarean section, however, and delivered a healthy baby boy.

Three years later, as she approached her 37th birthday, Stennett gave birth to her second son. “With my second pregnancy, the labor and delivery was half the time,” Stennett says. “So in terms of being physically pregnant as an older woman, I had no challenges.”

A Rising Trend

Stennett is just one example of the increasing number of women in the U.S. who experience pregnancy later in life. In 2000, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the average age for a woman’s first pregnancy in the U.S was 24.9. By 2016, that number had risen to 28.

To explain the higher average age in 2016, experts have pointed to the decreasing rate of teen pregnancies. However, the CDC also found that, for the first time, women in their 30s are having more babies than women in their 20s. The reasons behind why women are waiting longer to start their families varies.

Professor Hans-Peter Kohler of the University of Pennsylvania is a social and economic demographer who focuses on fertility and health. Kohler has concluded that the rise in age for first pregnancies is most likely due to more women participating in higher education and the job market.