New evidence on risks of advanced maternal age
Many of the risk factors associated with pregnancy are more harmful when the expectant mother is over 35. According to an extensive, register-based study carried out at the University of Eastern Finland, the risks associated with overweight, smoking, gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia are higher in advanced maternal age than in younger expectant mothers. Advanced maternal age refers to women giving birth at the age of over 35. In the western world, advanced maternal age has been a clearly growing trend over the past decades. In Finland, one in five women giving birth in 2013 were