Photo: @ali_hynek via Instagram
Laura Rucchin had it all mapped out: By 25, she?d be blissfully married with at least three kids. But it didn?t exactly work out that way. Rucchin delivered her first and only baby, a healthy seven-pound boy, when she was 42 years old. ?I never intended to have a child that late,? she says. But after a series of dating mishaps and a broken engagement, Rucchin chose to focus on her career while waiting for the right partner. ?He didn?t come along until I was 38.?
Rucchin is in good company. In Canada, nearly one in five babies are born to women age 35 and older, widely considered ?advanced maternal age??and that rate is expected to continue climbing, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information. Most older women have healthy pregnancies, but there are some risks to having a baby when you?re over 35. The good news: 35 is simply a starting point for advanced maternal age. Risks don?t increase significantly until you?re over 40, and even then they?re typically greater in women who are pregnant with their first child. ?A first pregnancy in an older woman can be harder on the body,? notes Bracken, ?simply because it hasn?t done this before.?
Risk of miscarriage

Egg quality declines as you age, so there?s a greater chance a positive pregnancy test won?t progress into a healthy pregnancy, says Keyna Bracken, a doctor in Hamilton with a special interest in obstetrics and women?s health. ?Poor egg quality can also result in more genetic...