Advanced maternal age ( what a lovely label)

[Ellycook]

Hello ladies, I am feeling so old today, I look around the antenatal clinic and everyone seems so young, an elderly lady came in today the receptionist asked for her date of birth and she said 1936 - I laughed to myself and thought oh somebody else around my age 🤣 I doubt she was for the antenatal side though 🤦‍♀️ sometimes you have to laugh - anyway I’m just looking for others who are also in the Advanced group - I’m 38 and will be 39 in July for due date, 22 with my first and this pregnancy is sooooo much harder .... guess I’m just reaching out to see if anybody relates, and how you are feeling, do you feel good about it all or are you anxious like me ? I had a consultant who was quick to tell me that with age often comes complications ( yay) - none of my friends are pregnant so I really don’t have anyone that can relate 😩x

Congratulations and good luck.

I'll be 37 when baby 6 is due, had our 1st at 21. Only thing my consultants have said is that I'm high risk for clots but not just age but BMI and number of babies I've had combined. I was still considered young when I had our twins at 30.
I had a lot of worry with this pregnancy early on as it follows 2 miscarriages (not age related, had a few in my 20's too). It's not been the easiest pregnancy but not particularly hard so far, dh works away so I am on my own with 5 kids and a dog most of the time. Still managing to powerlift in the gym twice a week too so can't complain, 25+2wk now.

Hi!
I will be 38 when baby is born and DS will be 12! I don't remember this morning sickness malarkey!! And sooo tired! When I was pregnant with DS I worked at a pub until quite late in the evenings - I'm in bed now! Feeling feeble 😅

Hello, I'm 45 and expecting baby number 4 in eight weeks. Welcome!

Yep, geriatric mum here

Used to be called geriatric pregnancy so the label seems a little kinder than it used to!

At 42 I was a grande multiple..

Due to ds being dc 11!
And practically prehistoric!!

I had my DD at 41, no-one thought my age remarkable and at the baby group I went to 50% were 40+.
I was consultant led due to age and then had GD so was consultant led for that too. But otherwise had the easiest pregnancy, felt amazing. I’ve found the transition to parenting really easy. The perks to being older are that no-one tries to tell you what you should or shouldn’t do I found. The consultants were all very respectful and the midwives and HV didn’t give me any grief. I think young mums get patronised far more.

Congrats to all! What a fab bunch. I was 49 but only number 2, so impressed with 11😁

Aw thanks everyone, nice to know I'm in good company xx

Hehe I had to do a quick sum of 2021 - 1984 to work out my age this year! Turns out I'm 37 in June and my second baby is due in Oct. happy to join to knitting and whatever old ladies do! . It's weird though, in person most friends with babies had them in mid or late thirties, but on my Mumsnet due date groups they're all youngsters!

This will be my second viable pregnancy if all continues to go ok. I had four MMC and one DS. With that successful pregnancy I was like "I am woman!", running half marathons, gym daily.. but this time round is different. I think corona and a company restructure, as well as having a super crazy toddler, has really impacted my mental health and I find it hard to go outside or do anything.

Even seeing friends I find hard- I love seeing them but find I'm emotionally spent after seeing them, yet I don't have the time to "reset" because I've got the madness of a 3 year old to deal with, one who takes 1.5, hours to go to sleep at night 😓.

The only reason i leave home is when I'm on nursery run or taking the toddler out to the park / watch trains etc.

I had dc in my teens, 20's, 30's and 40's!!
And been pregnant for 98 months all in!

Need to work out how many bfing years now!

Me 🙋🏼‍♀️ I’m 38 and will be 39 when baby arrives. Currently nearly 21 weeks.

This is baby number 4 for me but my last was 6.5 years ago so everything is a distant memory.

The pregnancy itself I’ve found super easy and has been pretty symptomless. I will be having my fourth c section though so I do wonder how I’ll cope with that and the recovery this time around.

Most gynae clinics also see patients with cancer. I do hope the 'elderly lady born in 1936' that was there at the same time as you wasn't aware you were laughing at her expense- even if laughing internally only!!!

Congrats that you are presumably pregnant and all is going well so far.

Had my second at 38 and remember being really worried during the pregnancy about how exhausted I was, but once the baby arrived it was fine.
My grandmother had my uncle when she was 40, and back in those days it really was considered ancient!

Also congratulations - you are in good company on here!

Thanks so much ladies @Elouera just to add my comment about the elderly lady was tongue in cheek there was certainly no laughing at her expense! Only at my own! This pregnancy has been full of problems and severe anxiety and I would certainly not ever make fun of anyone else !!!

I also had my first at 21, now having my 5th at 41. Funnily enough my age has only been mentioned when talking about inducing me at 41wks. Otherwise they all say "oh you're not that old"

I had my 4th at 40 and felt amazing. I don't feel quite so fabulous this time though.

I’ll be having my first at 42 in July - no one has said too much about my age other than a slightly sour midwife at my booking appt. consultants and midwives since then have all been fine!

I’m having my first and 37, I’ll be 38 when the bab is born. We’d like two kids so I might end up crossing over to Methuselah maternal age 🤣🤣.

I'll be 40 when baby here in 7 weeks, funnily enough don't really feel old at all. This is DC3 for us. In hospital/clinics etc there aren't that many super young mums so I've never felt I've stuck out due to my age. Women are generally having kids later and later now.

43 here and due DC3 in about 9 weeks. Had DCs 1 & 2 (twins) at 41 and never felt better than since having them 😊

I had DD last year at 40.

I had all the talk about my advanced age and extra risks and they were super keen on inducing me on account of me being so very ancient (I did hold out against that but they wore me down in the end ).

I had an amazing pregnancy really - i was anxious but physically I felt really well for the most part (well exhausted in the early weeks, shocking heartburn at times and a tiny bit of nausea but I’ve learned from talking to others that in pregnancy terms I got off lightly). The birth was not good but I think that had a lot to do with being induced before either dd or I was ready - I wouldn’t just meekly accept induction again, I would need a stronger medical reason than just ‘you’re old and that’s just what we do’.

And even though my age was mentioned they would always say I wasn’t old and would tell me it was pretty standard these days and 40 was nothing.

No pregnant friends either and those that were ever having children had them a few years back if not 10 or more years ago (one of my best friends has a 21 year old!) so I felt a little lonely on that score. I started some aquanatal classes and was hoping to do pregnancy yoga and normal antenatal classes but Covid put pay to all that, however I have managed to find a baby class that still met in person for some of the time anyway, and a pnd support group - at least half the mums if not more are a similar age to me.

Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy. I really don’t think 38/39 is old to be having a baby these days at all.

I'm 38 and 32 weeks with number 2 and nobody has mentioned anything about my age!

Consultant led because previous section/senior midwife put her foot down and insisted on continuity of care due to the near nervous breakdown from the amount of fuckery last time, but nothing else.

My mum got called elderly primagravida with me though, at 30!

Im due to give birth just before my 38th birthday - I have actually found it quite unusual to see anyone ‘young’ in the hospital waiting rooms, I think it’s normal to have kids a bit later on these days. I have found it tough but it’s my first so have nothing to compare it with!