Maternal age is a factor in childbirth complications, new research finds
A new study has found that a mother’s age may increase maternal health risks during pregnancy.
A group of scientists from The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto (IHPME) wanted to investigate whether there’s an association between increased maternal age and a higher risk for severe maternal morbidity.
They analyzed data from 3.1 million pregnancies across Canada and revealed mothers under the age of 19 or over 30 were at an increased risk for severe maternal morbidity and mortality, with women over the age of 44 being at the greatest risk compared to mothers aged 20 to 24 who are at the lowest risk. The findings were published in JAMA Network Open on August 23, 2019.