childbirth at 42 years old

[nics17]

I just had my 12 wk scan and spoke to a consultant.
He told me I can't deliver in the birthing unit as it's midwife led, as I'm 42 years old.
I'm so upset as this was my plan to be in the water again.
My son was born in water when I was 37
Has anyone else had problems / or had it easy?
I know there are more risks after 40
Can I get a second opinion?
Is it up to the hospital or consultant?
Thanks in advance for any advice

I had my last at 43. I was consultant led but they had a pool. In the end I needed no intervention, so only saw a doctor to say hello. The rest of the time was just us and the midwives. Ask what facilities are available. be warned, it is likely they will want to induce you at 40 weeks.

Just be careful, yes we all want the birth of our dreams, but still born babies, planental fsilure etc are a risk at your age ....
btw I had my second at 40 and wasn't willing to take any risks .... had a section in the end and was glad

I had mine at 42 at home
The midwives actively encouraged home birth for me

Is this a stand alone birthing unit or is it based in a hospital alongside an obstetric-led unit? Either way a blanket ban on over 40s is quite extreme. Although it should perhaps trigger a individual assessment due to the small increase in risk, you're very likely to have a straightforward time if you've had a previously normal labour and delivery. Definitely worth asking for a second opinion or to meet the lead midwife for the birth unit.

What on earth is wrong with posters refusing to recognise that birth is highly dangerous, and some more dangerous than others? Midwives actively encouraging a 42-year old home birth are dangerously beyond the scope of their practice, are gambling with the life of the baby and should be struck off.

OP at 42, you are at a greatly increased risk of still birth and complications. Midwife led care is barely safe for extremely low risk women, rigourously screened. Your age - regardless of anything else - is a strong risk factor. You therefore do not qualify for midwife led care. You are fortunate to live in a time and place where we can reasonably expect that both a 42 year old mother and her baby will survive childbirth alive and well. This is a highly unusual state of affairs - in a lot of parts of the world, and for almost all of history, childbirth killed mothers and especially babies in droves.

Please talk to your consultant and listen to what she has to say.

Congratulations on your pregnancy OP. Is there any reason why your consultant advises against midwife led apart from your age? If age is the only reason then I would say you should get a second opinion. If you've had a problem free birth already then there's no reason to assume your will have problems just because you're a few years older. I had my third child at 43 in a midwife led unit. No issues at all. I had previously had two straightforward births at 34 and 37. Nobody pushed me towards a consultant led birth and I would have resisted this, given my history. The only thing I would say is that whatever you decide, they will probably want to induce you around 37/38 weeks as they don't generally like women in their 40s to go too long due to potential problems with the placenta. This was luckily not an issue for me as my babies always arrive slightly early anyway and my third followed the trend, arriving just a few days before my induction date. Good luck.

Sycamore54321, scaremongering much?!! Midwife led care barely safe for even low risk women? Where on earth do you get this information from? I am reasonably fit and healthy but certainly not exceptional and gave birth naturally with no problems at the age of 43. So did both of my grandmothers. Are we freaks of nature? I think if the OP has no history to suggest there will be problems she should be allowed to choose a midwife led unit, ideally with consultants close by should she need to transfer and for peace of mind, the importance of which cannot be overestimated when it comes to birth.

You should still be able to have a water birth at 42. Perhaps the hospital has birthing pools. Or you could have a water birth in your own home if you borrow or get hold of a birthing pool to use. Sadly due to protocol they are very funny about only letting specifically low risk mothers in the birthing centre, and everyone else has to go in the hospital apparently although usually the buildings are right next to each other !

Midwives actively encouraging a 42-year old home birth are dangerously beyond the scope of their practice, are gambling with the life of the baby and should be struck off

wtaf?

I agree with cousinit, it's ridiculous to say midwife led care is dangerous for even low risk women !

I wasn't allowed to give birth at my local MLU because of my age (40), but the maternity ward I have birth at had pools for waterbirths. Does your hospital not have s birthing suite like that?

Wow, what awful scare mongering. Perhaps there might be increased risk but killing women in droves?! In many many cases, child birth is a natural physical phenomena and not a medical procedure

OP I'm over 40 and preg and had a previously easy birth - but was being told I might not be able to have baby in birth led unit which was upsetting for a few reasons. So sought out an individual care plan meeting with head Midwife at the hospital and she has overridden these 'rules', she even said the risk of stillbirth over 40 is utterly minuscule increase on risk of 39s and under. And she had like 30 years experience. The NHS likes to be overly cautious - seek second opinion and fight for it.

Congratulations Nics17!
I am in the same position as you, except I am 44 and this will be my first baby.
My options are midwife led home birth or hospital and I am still undecided at 29 weeks.
My only advice is that, at 12 weeks, you have ages before you have to make a decision so plenty of time to talk to people and research risks.

My midwife is happy to support a homebirth and I have met a consultant who said she would prefer it if I chose the hospital option but it is up to me. She also said that, even as a 1st time Mum, my risks as a fit and healthy 44 year old with an uncomplicated pregnancy are far less than, for example, an obese 25 year old who smokes (her example).

It has always been common for women over 40 to give birth (might want to do some research there sycamore ). It is women having their 1st baby over 40 that is a more recent trend.

As far as I understand it, rather than age, the strongest indicator of potential risk is how previous births have gone. You have already had one successful pregnancy so, statistically, your risk level will be significantly lower.

It is likely that you will not be able to use an MLU purely because of age protocol (rather than any risk specific to you as an individual) but a home birth may be an option. Or, as a PP has said, your hospital may have a pool.

I sympathise, as it is hard to weigh up the risks and you will get loads of advice from people with completely opposing positions!

On the positive side, one little perk of being officially a geriatric mother is that you will get extra scans as you progress, which is lovely and reassuring.
Good luck with it all!

OP, ignore the ridiculous scaremongering! Do your own research and you'll find the statistics are quite supportive unless you have 'issues'.

I didn't look into a mlu (3rd birth at almost 43) as I wanted a home birth. In the end I was induced in hospital at 42 weeks, but got to have a water birth (by luck the pool was available). I could have still insisted on a hb but baby was in an unstable lie and I'd had her moved, but she kept moving so there was still a chance she'd come out breech. Add that to my age and that I was two weeks over, plus a history of haemorrhage, I didn't want to stress the midwives - a bad midwife makes for a bad birth in my experience

I have had 2 successful hb's previously - if your hospital won't support you in the mlu you may want to consider it?

Best of luck whatever you decide!

I had my third DC at 42, NHS water birth in hospital with no problems. I think it sounds as if practice varies from hospital to hospital.

Are you near more than one hospital? Worth trying another? FWIW my second DC arrived early so was born at a hospital in a completely different area to the one I was registered at - that turned out to be a bonus, they had a lovely midwife led unit with a choice (!) of birthing pools.

With my first DC I was denied a water birth as it was a high risk pregnancy but in practice they let me stay in a warm bath (not a birthing pool) for everything except the actual birth. Could you look at that as a compromise?

sycamore I'm with you 100%. The desperation of some women to gamble with their baby's life because of a desire to have a better birth "experience" never fails to shock me.

We are so fortunate to have the benefit of all that western medicine offers to ensure that, most of the time, birth is safe for babies and mothers. It hasn't always been like this and in many parts of the world it still isn't. Make the most of it and prioritise a healthy baby.

I agree with sycamore and why and I think some people on this thread need to pull their heads out of their arse.

If you’re having a baby at 42, you might not get to demand the birth you want, but as you’re increased risk, do you honestly care? I just wanted my baby out safely.

Had baby at 41. Shit traumatic birth from which it took me years to recover. There was no option for the birth of my choice. I wasn't even allowed a birth plan - we don't do that, I was told.

My dd is healthy strong and thriving. She's about to start secondary school.

I was in a similar situation to you OP, they won't let you use a MLU which even the midwives have said (to me) was unecessary-you can have a water birth on the ward though so make sure you push for that unless there are any concrete reasons why you can't, risks only increase slightly due to age if there are no obvious complications. They often don't tell you what your options are but as far as I'm aware all labour wards have pools but obviously there is a risk that they may all be in use on the day. Stand your ground.

I had my second DC at 42. The MLU wasn't an option for me as DC1 was born by CS. I don't remember being told that my age was a problem though. The MLU is adjacent to the Maternity wards in the same building at our hospital.
I seriously considered a home birth, but in the end was persuaded not to as DC2 was predicted to have a large head (it was actually off the scale when he was born - big heads run in DPs family).

I was promised that it was highly likely I would be able to use a room with a birth pool in the main maternity hospital which is what I wanted.

There was never any suggestion of encouraging an early birth, even with the big head. However they didn't want me to go too far overdue due to my age, previous CS and the large head...

Despite lots of encouragement including acupuncture and attempted sweeps, DC2 was determined to stay put, and I was booked for a CS at 40+6. (I decided against being induced as given DC2 reluctance to move, I could see me being exhausted from unsuccessful labour & ending up with an EMCS anyway).

You have lots of time at the moment. Talk to your midwife and ask to talk to the head midwife as well. The MLU often have strict rules so that might not be an option, but there will be other ways to get the type of birth you want. Or at least have an initial plan to.

Wishing you all the best x

I think for most women I t's not about being desperate for a 'better birth experience' Though, to be fair, I thought it was a simplistic dilemma like that too before being in this position myself.

It's more about wanting to understand what the risk situation is for you as an individual and seeking evidence to make the best choices within safe parameters.

Being older is statistically more risky but that doesn't directly translate to all older mums being at the same increased risk. For example, as I said below, having had previous healthy births lowers your risk significantly.

I am almost certainly going to choose a hospital birth because, having looked at the evidence, it looks like it will be a safer option for me and my baby. I am very evidence driven and am well aware and appreciative of the medical advantages we enjoy in an affluent society.

A big part of that advantage is being lucky enough to be free and educated enough to make an informed choice on the basis of available evidence

If I had given birth without complications before and was a few mins drive (rather than half an hour) from a good hospital, I may well make a different choice.

I had ds2 at 42 in a birthing pool in hospital. Didn't see a doctor for the birth but he was induced at 40 weeks plus 1 day. This was over 20 years ago.
With ds1 at 39 the registrar wanted to induce at 37 weeks due to my age. I asked why and he referred me to the consultant who told him there was no reason at all. I was still going to the gym at that stage!
I think you need another discussion with the Consultant as there must be a reason.
I would not have chosen home birth or midwife lead unit if the unit was separate but consultant lead does not mean interventions

Does your local maternity hospital have a birthing pool? My hospital had the midwife unit on one floor (with the birthing pools) and the main unit next one up, so if there were any issues you can be taken straight up to the main unit.

I'm 41 and will be having DC2 this summer, shortly before my 42nd birthday.

I've been told that over 40s can't go to the midwife led unit and, because of pregnancy-related health issues, I'm classed as high risk so I get nothing else "nice" either. I've been told that over 40 they will never let you go over 40 weeks because the placenta doesn't work as well so yes, expect to be induced at 40 weeks and no, you probably won't be allowed near a water birth. Sorry OP but I suspect you're stuffed with this - their priority is getting the baby here without you suing them, not on you getting the birth that is best for you. Maybe start looking at a birth plan now so you can discuss and categorically rule out things you don't want, forceps etc. to give you however limited level of control over this process, but you sure as hell aren't going to get the birth you were hoping for. Sorry.