Effect of Advanced Maternal Age on Pregnancy Outcomes

Abstract

Introduction: Advanced maternal age generally denotes age after 35years during the time of delivery. Despite the fact that being pregnant at any reproductive age is not risk free, older gravidity usually culminates with adverse outcomes both to mother and fetus or neonates. The objectives of this study is to investigate the impact of advanced maternal age on perinatal and neonatal outcomes of primiparous singleton pregnancies.

Methods: This was a prospective cohort study conducted in Kathmandu Model Hospital/Kirtipur Hospital including 60 elderly pregnant Women from exposed groups (35-40 years) and 60 pregnant women from unexposed groups (30-34 years) and analyzed for maternal and fetal outcomes. Data was collected in the proforma and statistical analysis was done using IBM SPSS v 26.

Results: A total no. of 120 pregnant patients were selected for the study. The average age  of the patients was 36.561.61years and 31.53±1.27years in exposed and unexposed groups. The risk of pregnancy induced Hypertension (55%), preterm labour (30%) and low birth weight (28.3%) were significantly higher in exposed group as compared to non-exposed group. There was little evidence of increased risk of oligohydramnios (13.3%) and cesarean delivery rates (63.4%) in exposed group. Rate of neonatal intensive care unit admission was high in exposed group (46.7%) than unexposed group (30%).

Conclusions: This present study showed that pregnancy at advanced maternal age associated with increased risk of certain maternal and fetal complication and these finding emphasize the importance of age-appropriate prenatal care and early intervention to improve outcomes of elderly pregnant women.