Tips for older women to prepare for pregnancy

Statistical survey data show that the current infertility rate is 1/7 and is increasing year by year. Age is one of the key factors leading to infertility. After the age of 35, women are considered old, and their ovarian function and reproductive function will decline significantly. After the age of 40, they will decline at a turning point. From a physiological point of view, the best childbearing age for women is 23-30 years old. Although modern women are more and more aware of maintenance, and their age is increasingly difficult to tell from their appearance, the process of ovarian decline is not much different from the past, and it is still best for women to give birth before the age of 35.

Women over 35 need to know that their chances of getting pregnant are significantly lower than those of younger people. For those older women who are racing against time, how to improve their chances of getting pregnant? How to give birth to a healthy baby? These are all issues of great concern. It is recommended that older women understand the following aspects during their pregnancy preparation.

First, you need to eat healthy, exercise regularly, and have a regular work and rest schedule. Avoid excessive anxiety and keep your mood relaxed. Pay attention to controlling the intake of salt, fat, and sugar in your diet. Avoid drinking too much coffee, taking drugs, and coming into contact with poisons or harmful chemicals. Whether it is men or women, staying up late will seriously affect the quality of sperm and eggs. Taking men as an example, staying up late often can significantly reduce the quality of sperm. Especially after men reach the age of 35, the integrity of sperm DNA deteriorates, which can easily lead to chromosomal abnormalities. Women staying up late for a long time will also affect the quality of eggs. In addition, long-term smoking and drinking will increase the rate of fetal malformations and affect the development of the embryo. Before preparing for pregnancy, you must be prepared to quit smoking and drinking.

Secondly, we should pay attention to the importance of folic acid for pregnancy. Folic acid is a substance closely related to pregnancy. It helps prevent problems such as neural tube defects in the fetus. It is especially important for older women. From the beginning of pregnancy planning, take a folic acid tablet containing multivitamins every day. The folic acid content is 0.4mg. If the body's folic acid utilization rate is low, 0.8mg of folic acid should be supplemented every day until 4 months after successful conception. If conditions permit, you can also supplement vitamin D every day.

Third, it is recommended to consult a reproductive medicine expert as soon as possible and receive necessary medical examinations. For women with regular menstruation and older women who are willing to try to conceive on their own, maintaining regular sex life (2-3 times/week) after the menstruation is over will help increase the chance of conception. Medically, the 5-6 days before ovulation are defined as the "conception window". If you can maintain sex about once/2 days within these few days, you may have a greater chance of conception. If sex is not so frequent, or the couple lives in two places and one party often travels, it is recommended to learn some methods to predict ovulation, such as basal body temperature measurement, use of ovulation test strips, etc., which will help to increase the conception rate. If you have been actively trying for 3 months without getting pregnant, do not spend a long time on Chinese medicine conditioning and ancestral folk remedies. You should find the cause of infertility as soon as possible and deal with it in time. If you meet the standards for IVF, you should cooperate with the doctor to start assisted reproductive treatment as soon as possible.

Fourth, pregnancy in women over 35 years old is medically called high-risk pregnancy. If pregnancy is successful, the risk of miscarriage, risk of pregnancy complications, and risk of premature birth are significantly higher than those of younger people, such as surgical delivery, diabetic babies, intrauterine growth restriction, and low birth weight babies. And the risk of giving birth to a fetus with chromosomal abnormalities/malformations increases. It is necessary to communicate with the doctor and conduct prenatal examinations and prenatal diagnosis as soon as possible (such as NT measurement, or chorionic villus sampling, Down syndrome screening, and necessary amniocentesis to detect fetuses with chromosomal abnormalities as early as possible), and follow the doctor's advice and have regular pregnancy tests.

Fifth, regarding the mode of delivery, advanced age is not an absolute indication for cesarean section. Generally speaking, as age increases, the body's flexibility and ability to withstand pregnancy will deteriorate. It is recommended that older pregnant women develop a good lifestyle from the preparation stage to pregnancy, exercise properly during pregnancy, control their weight, avoid the fetus being too large, and prepare for delivery. If there are no contraindications to vaginal delivery, older pregnant women can still give birth naturally under the guidance of doctors and nurses.

Zhang Huijuan, Department of Reproductive Genetics, Tangshan Maternal and Child Health Hospital