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Pregnancy after 35 - What Can I Expect?

Dear Anai,

I'm a fairly healthy 37 year old woman. I've never smoked, I drank occassionally in the past during social events, exercise and eat healthy. I'm in my first trimester of pregnancy and I hear horror stories of babies born to women over 35 who have had complications. Will my baby be ok?

Answer: It seems more and more women decide to wait until their late 20's and 30's to start their family. There are several reasons why women wait. Some wait for financial reasons, others mainly to establish their careers.

As a woman ages, there is an increased risk of chromosomal abnormalites. These are the structures that carry our genetic information. Typically, we have 23 chromosomes inherited from each of our parents. As we age, a chromosome may become lost (monosomy) or gained (trimosy) during the process of conception, resulting in a child that has Down's Syndrome.

There are options available to you for testing in this area. One way is CVS (chorionic villus sampling), and the other is Amniocentesis (amniotic fliud extraction method). CVS can be performed as early as 10-11 weeks of pregnancy. It works by inserting a very thin catheter through the cervix or inserting a needle through your abdomen to retrieve a small piece of the placenta for testing.

Amniocentesis is a more known procedure, that is typically done later that CVS between the 15th and 18th week of your pregnancy. Your doctor will insert a fine needle in your abdomen, thru the amnio sac, to take a sample of your amniotic fluid. Both Amniocentesis and CVS about 2 weeks for test results, and both carry a risk of early miscarriage.

In addition to this testing, women over 35 should know her risks for developing preeclampsia and gestational diabetes.

Anai Rhoads