Can a woman still have a baby at 37?

Today's women choose to marry and have children late. Many women get married and have children after the age of 30, and some even plan to have children after the age of 35. Since the country relaxed the two-child policy, some older women want to have another child. However, for older women, the older they are, the greater the risk of pregnancy. I believe these women are very worried about a question: Can a 37-year-old woman still get pregnant? Let’s take a look at the answer to this question below.

A 37-year-old woman can still get pregnant, but the chances of successful pregnancy will be relatively low. Women reach their peak fertility at the age of 20 to 24, and their fertility decreases by at least a quarter when they are 35 to 39 years old. Studies have shown that 94% of 35-year-old women and 77% of 38-year-old women have to try for three years before they can get pregnant.

Risks of pregnancy for 37-year-old women

There is strong evidence that older women are indeed more likely to develop conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and placenta previa during pregnancy. They all pose serious risks to your pregnancy and require close monitoring. If you work closely with your gynecologist and take appropriate measures, such as controlling your diet if you have diabetes or overweight, you can help reduce the risks to you and your baby.

Another problem is that as the mother ages, the likelihood of having a baby with genetic defects increases. Statistics show that the risk of pregnant women aged 25 to 35 giving birth to a baby with Down syndrome is 0.15%, 1 to 2% for those over 37, and 3 to 4% for those over 40. It can be seen that with age, the risk of genetic problems increases significantly. So if you are close to or over 40, you must consider doing genetic testing.

Because chromosomal abnormalities are the most common cause of miscarriage, the risk of developing it increases with age. Some people have also pointed out that the probability of intrauterine fetal death in pregnancies after the age of 37 is relatively higher, which may also be caused by chromosomal abnormalities to some extent. In addition, the older the pregnant mother is, the weaker the uterine contractions may be. The resulting uterine atony will delay the delivery process and increase the probability of vaginal delivery and cesarean section.

Although the various risk data mentioned above may make you frown, many well-planned studies in recent years have shown that although women who become pregnant after the age of 37 have an increased risk of some pregnancy complications, for healthy women, the absolute risk of delayed pregnancy is still very low. Because whether or not there are complications during pregnancy is not only a matter of age, but also related to the physical condition before pregnancy. Now you should feel good about this, because the physical condition you are preparing for pregnancy is something you can control or improve.

In addition, various studies have found that for pregnant women who become pregnant after the age of 37, the majority of mothers and babies end up healthy; although older women do have a higher risk of intrauterine fetal death, the absolute proportion is still very low. This is because modern obstetrics can easily deal with common complications among older mothers. Many women who delay pregnancy until after the age of 37 have found that, as long as their overall physical condition is good, they are no more likely to develop serious complications than younger women, and the vast majority of older pregnant women can give birth to healthy babies.