Pregnancy In Your 20s 30s & 40s

Have a healthy and happy pregnancy at any age. Here is how your body and your baby are affected by your age.

- Margot Bertelsmann

TWENTIES YOUR BODY

Physically, you are in the golden age for reproduction right now: you will never be more fertile than in your early twenties. You have a 20 percent chance of conceiving every month.

THE GOOD

Your body will recover from the stress of pregnancy and childbirth fast, and, once your baby’s here, your energy levels are higher than an older mom’s. Pregnancy is also safest for you – the rates of gestational diabetes and hypertension (high blood pressure) are lower than at any other age.

Whether you feel ready for pregnancy is another matter. Over the past two to three generations, humans have been taking longer to mature, and there is a trend to extend adolescence, live with our parents into adulthood, and focus on careers before babies.

But if you do feel ready for children and choose to have a baby in your twenties, there are some advantages.

“It may be easier to adjust to the disruption of parenting. Later in life, you have become used to your life and routine, and your career may be more established and therefore disrupted by the arrival of a child,” says Joburg psychologist Thomas Burkhalter.

THE RISK OF HAVING A BABY WITH DOWN SYNDROME, FOR INSTANCE, INCREASES FROM 1 IN 350 BY AGE 35 TO 1 IN 100 BY AGE 40.

THE BAD

The biggest risk to fertility for you now are sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), says Johannesburg-based gynaecologist Dr Bronwyn Moore. Diseases such as gonorrhoea and chlamydia can damage the reproductive system. If you are HIV positive and pregnant, you will need specialised antenatal and postnatal care, so it’s important you tell your doctor or clinic.

THE UGLY