Pregnant over 40

[Downtherabbithole83]

I’m currently 6 weeks pregnant and am 41. Very aware of all the extra risks this brings and as my last pregnancy (at 39) all went wrong at the 12 week scan when they discovered a number of issues, I’m feel a little stressed by the next couple of months.

Just looking to see if there are many other older mums on here?

It’s normal for the first ones to be late, there’s data on this and if you want/need them I can find references for you.

My first was 10 days past the due date and I have been repeatedly offered an induction (I declined). If you have an option to choose increased monitoring instead I would go for that although I don’t have any experience with inductions.

I myself opted for monitoring instead and in the end agreed to an induction because out of a sudden I developed polihydramnios. Still my first decided to be born when she was ready and I arrived at the hospital for my scheduled induction halfway through the labour. Ended up giving birth naturally without any interventions. They never found the reason for the extra amniotic fluid appearing out of nowhere and DC1 arrived healthy, 3kg and 10 points.

Vhp83 aww honestly, you will be fine. At the end of the day, it wasn't that bad really, just not what I would have chosen looking back. Just keep focusing on your beautiful baby who you will be meeting shortly. Once there here it all feels worth it.

I also think you will be fine, it’s a standard procedure.

However, if you feel very strongly against it (I was) I think it is worth advocating for the wait unless there’s proven risk to the baby. If you are over the fence, go with the professional advice.

I feel very lucky to have two birth the way I wanted to. They were good experiences because nobody rushed me, I was in control and the midwives delivering my children did everything to minimise the damage to me - with my first I could go home after two hours and just walked out of hospital carrying her. But then I was well informed about what I wanted and also advocating for myself. I was also realistic so it there were risks to the babies I would agree to more interventions.

I will be induced at 37 weeks this time due to diabetes, the amount of children I've had and the fact my Mum recently had a massive stroke so I'm at risk of high blood pressure. I loved my home births, but live an hour away from a hospital and have quick births, so if any of the risk factors did come in to play this time, I'd not want to risk it.

I was induced last time @Vhp83 and it was incredibly straight forward. From having the drip put in to birth was 30 minutes, it was no more intense than any of my previous labours either, though of course I did have the advantage of having had other babies. I've never got to a due date, and my first was 4 days early despite everyone telling me she was obviously going to be overdue. Please try not to focus on all the horror stories you hear, be positive and open to all eventualities, just go with the flow. I have always found this the best approach.

I am a high risk mum because of age, umbilcal cord having one artery, and having an ivf pregnancy, so I will probably do whatever the safest i, let's be that induction, cesarian or vaginal. If i am not going into labour before 39 week, am going to do induction or cesarian at week 39 the latest

Hi everyone, sorry I haven't posted for a while. Unfortunately it's a sad update from me. I had posted before that my pregnancy had a very rare complication - nothing related to age, just random very bad luck. The consultant decided to do the intervention a few weeks ago (at 18 weeks). Success rate estimated at around 85% but unfortunately we were not one of the lucky ones and we had to make the heart breaking decision to end the pregnancy the following week. A situation I never imagined I'd find myself in. It's been a very hard few weeks.

But for anyone on this board now or who comes to read it in the future, I just want to emphasise that this was nothing to do with parental age, and actually our baby appeared to be completely healthy genetically /structurally. Wishing you all healthy pregnancies. x

@User0141 I am so sorry to hear that, it must be heartbreaking. 💔 I hope you have solid support irl.

So sorry to hear that @User0141. Making the decision to end a pregnancy is never an easy choice. Thinking of you xx

@CortieTat thank you, yes I'm fortunate to have family and friends to support me, although I'm not at a stage I can really talk to anyone about it yet. I've been referred for counselling, hopefully that will help.

@Downtherabbithole83 the hardest decision of my life. I had been warned intervention could cause miscarriage and it's an awful thing to say but I wish it had - instead it caused an exceptionally rare complication that left us with a heart-breaking decision to make and now we have that burden to carry forever.

Like @CortieTat I work in statistics and what's been so difficult is how little data are available for the situation we were in. Having to make massive decisions based on tiny sample sizes and an almost non-existent evidence base.