DANGERS OF DELAYING MOTHERHOOD TILL 30

*.Risk of problems rises by 20 per cent for women aged 30 to 34 *.First-time mothers were told they are at high risk above the age of 35 *.Results showed for women in early thirties, there was a one-fifth higher risk Women who delay having children enter a ‘risk zone’ of problems in their early thirties, researchers say – much earlier than was previously thought. The risk of problems such as premature and stillbirth rises by as much as 20 per cent for women aged between 30 and 34, compared with those having babies in their late twenties. First-time mothers have previously been told they are at high risk above the age of 35, but more and more women are putting off having children until their thirties. Risk: The risk of problems such as premature and stillbirth rises by as much as 20 per cent for women aged between 30 and 34, compared with those having babies in their late twenties. Professor Ulla Waldenström, who led the study, said: ‘To our surprise we found an absolute increase in risk for negative effects on pregnancy outcomes in the age group 30-34. These are independent of the effects of smoking and being overweight, which, when combined, lead to an even greater risk.’ In England and Wales the average age at first birth was 27.9 years in 2011 – up 1.3 years in a decade – and the average age of all mothers was almost 30. Some of the country’s leading obstetricians and fertility specialists have warned that women who put off having children until their thirties are ‘defying nature’ and may not become mothers at all because of increased rates of risk and infertility.