Growing number of 50-plus women giving birth
November 1st, 2010 - 9:51 pm ICT by IANSLondon, Nov 1 (IANS) A growing number of women are giving birth in their 50s, as more and more in vitro fertilisation (IVF) clinics relax rules on treating older patients.
More than 100 women aged 50 and over had babies last year in England and Wales, a 55 percent increase on 2008, data from the Office for National Statistics reveal.
In 2009, 140,000 babies were born to women aged 35 or older - one in five of all births, reports the Daily Mail.
Fathers are also increasingly likely to be close to middle age when they are faced with the task of bringing up toddlers. Latest figures show that two-thirds of new fathers are over 30.
As the chances of getting pregnant and having a healthy child drop drastically with age, most of the new 50-plus mothers will have used donor eggs or embryos donated by younger women to help them conceive.
Meanwhile, a separate study suggested that women who are stressed during IVF treatment may actually have a better chance of pregnancy.
Those reporting higher stress levels were more than twice as likely to become pregnant compared with those who were more relaxed, according to a study on 217 women at Staten Island University Hospital in New York, US.
- Stress, hectic lifestyle raises IVF demand - Sep 03, 2011
- IVF breakthrough boosts pregnancy chances - Oct 13, 2010
- New tool may prevent twin births after IVF - Oct 01, 2010
- New IVF test trebles chance of healthy baby - Oct 27, 2010
- More cash-strapped Australian mums opt multiple birth - May 03, 2010
- Infertile women can still conceive - Feb 21, 2012
- 100 babies aborted in Britain by women not wanting multiple births - Dec 29, 2011
- Filming embryos could double chances of IVF success - Oct 05, 2010
- Fertility treatments show diminishing returns - Aug 06, 2010
- Fertility treatment can lead to male babies - Sep 29, 2010
- IVF centres lack counselling facilities: Survey - Oct 13, 2011
- IVF clinics mushroom under toothless ICMR guidelines (Feature) - Oct 19, 2011
- Stillbirth risk increases fourfold in IVF mums: Study - Feb 24, 2010
- Healthy baby born from embryo frozen 20 years ago - Oct 11, 2010
- IVF breakthrough offers fresh hope to childless couples - Oct 24, 2010
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