Healthy Baby At 38?

[CuriousGeorg]

Went to the doctor today to get a script for prenatals and discuss plans to become pregnant.  I am 38 years old.  She immediately began to spout off statistics about Down's and other problems associated with advanced maternal age.  I must be living in a bubble because I didn't realize that 38 was such a negative number for pregnancy.  Now I am freaked.  Are the statistics that grim?  I have one healthy seven year old son.  Does this help my chances of another healthy pregnancy/baby?

[Regggie]

I think a little of that must be your DR.....I'm 37 now 38 at delivery and my Dr is just the opposite. She is very positive and suggested tests other than Amnio IF I WANTED THEM. That's a bummer, sorry about that!

[chiromom]

Change doctors immediately.  You need a provider that is positive about pregnancy over 35.  There are plenty out there.  Your Doctor will only be negative thought your entire pregnancy.  Run for the hills - and get another opinion.

[RunningL8]

I agree--switch doctors!  38 is not old at all; find a doctor who sees lots of women your age.  (I got pregnant at age 45 and 1/2--which really IS old--and my doctors were really supportive and positive!)

[butterfly_kisses7588]

I agree, see another DR.  Mine said at 38, the biggest concern I had was multiples....not such a bad thing!

[CuriousGeorg]

Thank you all for responding so quickly.  I am going to make a few calls today AND get the prenatal vitamins filled.  I was up quite a while last night reading on the internet about advanced maternal age.  Needless to say, woke up with a killer headache and a whole lot of the same negative info.  I appreciate you all for the positive words.

[mlb1234]

What the heck????  Your doctor must NOT be very well informed.  I am 37y.  My risk at deivery (I will be 38y then) for trisomies using age and weight alone was something like 1:180.  That is LESS THAN 1% without doing any advanced testing.  Now after the first trimester screening my risk went down to like 1:3000 for Down's and 1:6000 for trisomy 13/18.  My AFP also came out totally normal.  Yes chromosomal abnormalities occur more often with advanced maternal age but by no means does it mean you can't have a completely healthy baby even in your 40's.  Even the genetic counselor we saw basically said we didn't really need to do the screen because the risk was very low anyways.  Do not freak out, just get another doctor and talk to a genetic counselor who really understands the numbers.  The early screens are also quite good if you are on the fence about deciding to do amnio.  Our results came back so good that the amnio would be very unnecessary and we did not do one.  Best of luck!!!!

[Baby Vol]

poo on that doctor..thats ridiculous.

[tina1111]

Ditch the doc, lol. I got pg for the 1st time at 40. Unfortunately mc due to lifting something too heavy. They did genetic testing on the baby and was 100% normal. My dr gave me the statistics for Down's, etc because I asked her. After she gave them to me she said "It's funny how the statistics are so much higher for AMA women when the majority of babies with Down's are born to women under 35." She made me feel much better. We do run a higher risk of mc, though. I've had 2 chemical pgs since the 12wk mc. We'll just keep trying :)

[shesherm]

Yeah the ladies are right swith Dr and switch now :O)  The risks do go but they are not off the charts.  good luck and SSBD

[Leila's_Mom]

Congratulations on your pregnancy!!!! How wonderful for you. I concieved my first child at the age of 38 and gave birth to her at 39. She in 2.5 years old and is such a beautiful and healthy child. Yes, the risk of certain complications to you and the baby are higher, however, you still have greater than a 98% chance of having a healthy child.

My approach to genetic testing was to take blood screens; the triple screen. Bare in mind that these screens are only predictive and also have relatively high false positive and false negative rates. We decided that if any of our screens or ultrasounds indicated that there might be a problem, then we would have amniocentesis. Anyway, our screen indicated that our child might have Down's Syndrome (one of my "older" friends also had the triple screen that indicated an abnormality). My friend chose to have amniocentesis as did I. Neither of our babies actually had Down's Syndrome.

All that I can say is that you need to find a good OB who is experienced working with women of so, called advanced maternal age. The OBs I consulted did give us the stats. They have to. But they were also VERY reassuring. In the end, we went with a group of midwives and loved the care theat we recieved. We also chose a natural birth (hynobirthing) that was nice and normal. Lots of women are having babies in their 3rd and 4th decades of life. Lots of us and our kids do JUST FINE! Congratulations and enjoy your pregnancy.

[Leila's_Mom]

I should say that I met 5 or 6 OB groups before we found the right fit. I had to sign on as a new patient for each consultation. It was a pain in rear with all the paperwork, but we wanted to work with people who would monitor our pregnancy and help us feel at ease, not raise fears just because I was over 35.

[April2]

Hey, I just wanted to let you know I got pregnant at 38 and gave birth at 39. I had a very uneventful pregnancy and had a beautiful healthy baby boy. It was a surprise baby. I already had two teenagers! Today he is the joy of my life. Don't worry. Just get plenty of rest, eat right and take your vitamins. You'll be fine. Take care.

[CuriousGeorg]

Thanks everybody for the kind words.  I am going to meet with a new DR next week for a "preconception consultation".  I find myself trying to make small talk with strangers with babies just so I can ask them how old they are.  I am taking prenatal vitamins and doing a lot of thinking.

[cadrmr]

What is a chemical pregnancy

[jmalton]

I am a 38 year old mother of 2 girls and I'm trying to conceive.  Reading all your encouraging words has put me at ease.  I was a little concerned, but I feel healthy and I believe it will be ok.  One thing that scared me a little though was someone said the chances of having multiples was greater as you get older?  Can someone expound on that?

Johanne

[trh0819]

I am 3 weeks shy of 38 and 10w5d pregnant with my first. My RE of course explained general concerns but was very supportive. In fact, most of his patients are my age or older seeking fertility treatment. I think that's the reference to multiple births. After 35, many women require assistance and once you begin taking medication, you increase your chances of twins. For example, we transferred two embies through IVF so we had a chance of twins but wanted to increase our chances of at least one implanting, so we were willing to take that chance. When I took Clomid before, I had several follicles each time so technically, several could have implanted. None did, which is why we moved on to IVF but with fertility treatment comes the risk of multiple birth.

[tones99]

I am 39 and was recently pg till 12 wks when we lost our baby .. but we never had one had one discouraging word about my age from our doc or midwives... I knew the risks and that we may have to have extra tests but all that was treated like being extra precautionary .. not that something was going to be wrong!

I have a lot of friends who are my age or older who for one reason or another didn't have their bubs till later .. and all of them are healthy .. no one I know has had a down's bub and I'm surrounded by healthy babies .. I think older mum's are more aware of their health and body's and look after themselves better .. so have great chances of producing healthy genetically strong eggs ..you having the knowledge of what could go wrong is the health practitioner's duty .. after that you can take what you want from it .. but after reading all these wonderful responses on here you can take heart that there are plenty of women out there your age or older with healthy pg's and babies.  good luck!

[allmymarbles]

Well I guess that statistics are that bad if you are a hopeless drunk, or a druggie, or in very bad health. In our family we have babies well into our forties and an aunt of mine had one at 50 and another at 52. All the babies were full term and healthy (as were the mothers). You are not a statistic. You are an individual.

[Christine1273]

First I'd like to say thanks to everyone for their supportive comments. To CuriousGeorg: I would change doctors also. I am going through the same worry you are so I can completely relate. I am 37 and hoping to conceive in August/September. I'll be 38 when I deliver. I would say also to just make sure the water you drink is pure, eat organic and healthy when you can, and take the prenatal vitamins. That is all we can do:-)
To Leila's_Mom: Thanks for sharing the stastic that we still have a 98% chance of having a healthy baby, it sure made me feel better:-)

OH, and CuriousGeorg: keep us in the loop if you conceive!!

[retta483]

im 36 and know alot of weoman in their 40's having babies and everything is fine I hear all the crud about downs from my mother in law  I ignore do what makes you happy and good luck lots of baby dust to you .

[jade1711]

hi i was just reading your story and i think that women still have babies well into their 40s and beyond that are perfectly healthy so just ignore your doctor and do what makes you happy. I was 19 when i first got pregnant and my odd of a downs baby were 1 in 10 (think you have to be about 60 to have odds like that lol) and i have had 2 very healthy perfect babies and am trying for no 3 (am 30 now).Good luck and love Debbie xx

[nurse38]

I was reading these comments and feel so bad for woman over 35 llike myself who become pregnant. The information out there is not very positive and is not very up to date. I had my first baby at age 36, a healthy baby girl. I had my second baby 2 days after my 38th birthday. A healthy baby boy. When I became pregnant at age 35 with my daughter I was so scared after reading all the negative things in books and on the internet. My Doctor was positive but, made sure to give me the advanced maternal age speech and about down syndrome speech. I think that all the negative things out there really made it hard to enjoy my pregnancy. My afp came back positive for possible down syndrome. 1:22 on my daughter. I cried and cried. Then I went throught the amnio, waited for 2 weeks. It was the worst 2 weeks of my husband and I's life. Then the dreaded call, I was so scared. I was told everything was normal I cried so hard with joy. The nurse at my Doctors office said, "I have only seen one of these test be right in 8 years of working here." So if that is true why put someone through that much stress during a pregnancy. My baby girl was born healthy but, was c-section. So what! When I was pregnant with my second child my son, my afp test came out 1:4 chance down syndrome. We were given counseling and told I had a big chance since I would be turning 38 when I deliver. My amnio came out no abnormalities and I have a healthy baby boy. I am an RN myself so I have researched this data. The data used for the afp test is very old and not updated. If you are above 35 you will most likely have a positive afp test. Most all of them are false positives over 90%. That to me is rediculous that all these medical professionals are still relying on this test. When they came up with the numbers for these ratios there were not that many woman over 35 having babies. The statistics need to be recalculated. Many woman at 15 to 25 have infants with down syndrome or even still births. I have a friend who had a baby with down syndrome at age 18 and a friend who had a still birth at 22. So why is it that all this information makes it sound like its everyone over 35 years old having these problems.. I say go for it but, just know that all pregnancy's are different. No matter what age you have a risk of down syndrome, abruption, c-section, and still birth. Its just part of life. If you are healthy you will most likely have no problem. It is true that the age of a womans eggs can affect the baby sometimes and her lifetime exposure to chemicals and radiation. But, most often you have like a 98% chance of having a healthy baby. Society needs to make the medical world re-calculate all of these statistics. Good luck. and stay positive.

[mjrda]

I worried I just found out that I'm pregnant and I'm 37 and will be 38 soon it is possible to have a healthy baby right.I have 3 other kids 15,11,8 I'm really worried.

[Super_sally888]

Hello,

of course it is possible to have a healthy baby at 37.  Many women do it.  The risks are relatively low (particularly at less than 40) and even lower if you are fit and healthy and look after yourself during your pregnancy.  This is also not your first pregnancy, and you've had a big gap so your body should be more than ok to handle this.

I had my first when I was 38.  Am now pregnant with my second at 41!  Many other women have their first children or second etc. in their late 30s and even early 40s.

All will be fine!