Am I too old to have a baby?
Don’t panic - you can have a healthy pregnancy and baby over 35.
Am I too old to have a baby is the question I often hear from clients. The notion that one’s fertility ‘falls off a cliff’ as soon as that last flame goes out on your 35th birthday cake is a myth. These days many people are waiting longer to have a baby than previous generations.
Global fertility rates are declining. 70 years ago the average woman had 5 children. However, nowadays people are having smaller families. There are a myriad of reasons why a woman may want to wait until later in adult life to have a baby.
Just some examples of why many women are having children later in life:
Not found the right partner
Focus on career or education
Desire to travel
Unfulfilled ambition
Financial stability
Housing
Cost of living
Cost of raising a family
Health issues
Struggling to conceive
Working with a certified fertility practitioner
There is so much societal pressure on women to have a baby. Some don’t feel ‘ready’ until later on in life, and that’s fine. I’m here to say, you can have a baby over 35 and not to panic. If you’re generally in good health, there’s a good chance you’ll have a straightforward pregnancy and healthy baby.
Generally speaking, fertility starts to decrease around the age of 35. We are born with all our eggs but the quality and quantity start to decline as we age. Our risk of certain health issues naturally increase as we age such as hypertension, diabetes or being overweight which will have an impact on getting pregnant and pregnancy.
There are also studies that show increased risk for preeclampsia, premature birth, a low birth weight, miscarriage, chromosomal abnormalities and stillbirth with age.
If you are in your mid-30s and trying for a baby my advice is to have a plan. The biggest thing I hear from clients at the start of our consultations is they wished they started trying sooner and they hadn’t realised it would take so long and they worry they are too old. However, once they understand how working with a fertility nutritionist can help, they always say they wished they started working together sooner. Although you can’t change the quantity of your eggs, there is so much I do with clients to improve the quality of their eggs and improve their general health so that their body is ready to have a baby.
If you are trying to get pregnant do get in touch so I can support you on your pregnancy journey by getting to the root cause of any fertility concerns, optimising the egg and sperm health, and ensuring you have all the nutrients to support a healthy pregnancy, whether that be through natural conception or assisted reproductive technologies such as IVF.
Hi, I’m Raquel
I am a fertility nutritionist based in Manchester, covering the North West, Cheshire and further afield. I help couples and single women to optimise their fertility through diet and lifestyle to help them get pregnant.
