Thanks for all your comments. It is following on from the discussion I had with the lovely midwife, who said that my consultant's opinion about not going past 40 weeks is based on limited and possibly flawed research about the placenta's lifespan in older women. The reason for discussing this is because I would like to give birth at my local MLU, which is literally across the road from our house, and is where I had DS2. I am low-risk in all other areas apart from age, and DS2 was born at 38 weeks after a 4 hour labour. If my consultant sticks to his guns, I will only be able to deliver here if I go into spontaneous labour before 40 weeks, otherwise it's off to the big hospital an hour away for something much less within my control.
I agree totally that I want whatever will be best for a healthy babs at the end, which is why this seems quite important to get right. If the clinical evidence is sketchy, then being in a MLU with a low risk pg would be the best outcome. However, risks of stillbirth increase with maternal age, so this is a good reason to look at earlier induction...
And if my RMC journey has taught me anything, it's not to accept the opinion of one specialist, but to do your own research and get multiple views before making up your mind.
Either way, I plan to use acupuncture sessions once I get to 38 weeks, and will get back on the raspberry leaf tea at 35 weeks to ripen everything up, so that will solve everything!
Sorry, I'm completely over thinking this, and if you stopped reading before this, I really don't blame you. I'm annoying myself!
I do promise, cross my heart, not to research in bed before going to sleep. Honest. 