Great Pregnancy Care Concepts for Women After 40′s

Pregnancy care has always been a hot topic of discussion among women all around the world. It is absolutely essential to maintain a healthy lifestyle throughout the three trimesters of pregnancy and such a method of approach will always ensure optimal health for the pregnant woman and the unborn baby. Pregnant woman will have to focus hard on their diet and nutrition and, they should always abstain from alcohol, drugs and smoking as well.

Other important areas that deserve great attention include exercise, rest and mental health as well. Women, who get pregnant in their twenties or thirties, may not face too much complications if they lead a healthy lifestyle and in the case of women getting pregnant after 40′s, an increased amount of care and attention are required because various studies have shown that at the age of 40, 1 out of every 3 women always stands in with a chance of miscarriage. The chance of miscarriage goes higher with women after 45 and it will be around 1 out of every two women.

With the help of advances in preconception and prenatal care, the chances of miscarriage have come down significantly as far as women after 40′s are concerned. Still, several factors should be taken into consideration to avert the possibility of miscarriage and they include the existing health status of woman, medical history, nutrition and family history as well. In order to avoid complications like neural tube defects, folic acid supplements should be given to all pregnant women after 40′s and it is always advisable to start taking folic acid from 3 months before conception till the completion of the first trimester. Daily consumption of folic acid is inevitable and it can be said without any doubt that pregnancy care plan for women after 40′s should be designed with the help of a qualified gynecologist.

Various studies have clearly shown that fertility will get decreased in the early 30′s and it will continue to drop as women get older. Women after 40′s will be more vulnerable to chromosomal disorders and 1 out of every 66 births will always have higher risk of chromosomal abnormalities. In the case of women over 45, the increased risk will be 1 in every 21 births. Another common abnormality is Down syndrome and 1 out of every 100 women after 40′s will always stand in with a chance of Down syndrome. The risk factor will go higher with women over 45 and it will be around 1 out of every 30 births. In some occasions, diagnostic tests will not be able to identify issues like Down syndrome and women after 40′s will be more vulnerable to other problems like gestational diabetes and preeclampsia in comparison with younger pregnant women.

Pregnant women over 40′s always face difficulties in handling their emotional concerns and pregnancy care will have to meet the psychological needs of these women. Adequate respect and support should be given to them during this critical juncture and they need to be heard with great amount of sensitivity as well. Great pregnancy care concepts will always assert the importance of taking all recommended immunizations and a well balanced diet plan will always find a place in quality concepts. Women after 40′s should never use alcohol, smoking or drugs because all these bad habits will invite huge pregnancy complications and they should always focus on leading a healthy and hygienic life.

Some of the well known experts whose research we recommend following are Dr Michael Flynn who runs his own IVF clinic at the Gold Coast, Dr Carl M. Herbert from San Francisco and Dr Mohamed Taranissi from Brooklyn.

Image courtesy of Jomphong / FreeDigitalPhotos.net