How to Have a Healthy Pregnancy at Age 40?

Pregnancy is a fantastic time in a woman’s life. A normal pregnancy consists of nine months. But when you are 40 or older than that and trying for a healthy pregnancy, it's essential to be aware of the risks that may arise during this time.

This blog will explain some guidance to help you make your pregnancy go smoothly. And how can you have a healthy pregnancy at age 40? 

What are the Possible Reasons for Having a Late Pregnancy?

There are many reasons why women wait to get pregnant, like fertility treatments and careers in life.

Additionally, according to a study on couples, more probable reasons for having a baby late can be a lack of money and a higher salary frame before expanding a family.

How Common is Pregnancy After the 40s?

• However, due to the raised risk of infertility at this age, we generally don’t recommend women in age 40s or older to try as long before getting an infertility evaluation.

• For instance, for women younger than age 35, we recommend 12 months of trying to conceive before initiating infertility treatment.

• For women between the ages of 35-40, we decline that period to six months.

Should you Try to Conceive in your 40s?

Yes, you can try to have a baby even in your 40s. Women aged 45 and more have lower chances of getting pregnant naturally because of fertility declination.

So after trying naturally, you can explore other options for conceiving like fertility medicines, assisted reproductive methods, artificial insemination, and in-vitro fertilization.

These procedures can increase your chances of conceiving and help your mental state relax as you attempt to grow your family.

Is Men’s age Also Matter to Having a Baby?

• The answer is yes. The possibility of miscarriage is high for women whose male partner is older than age 45 compared to men younger than 25 years of age.
• For couples trying for IVF treatment, the chance of having a baby is higher if the man’s age is younger than 41 years.

What are the Risks Involved in Getting Pregnant at Age 40?

After age 35, the risk increases 4-8 times compared to younger women. Take a look at risks for 40s women who are trying to conceive or already are pregnant:

• High blood pressure
• Protein in the urine during pregnancy,
• Gestational diabetes 
• Low or abnormally high birth weights
• Premature deliveries
• The possibility of growing placenta previa - is a condition in which the placenta either partially or fully covers the cervix.
• In addition, women who have their first kid after 40 might have a little higher risk of acquiring breast cancer. 

Further,  women over age 40 are at threat of having babies with distinct heart defects, genital anomalies, skull deformations, and esophageal malformations.

What are the Benefits of Having a Baby in the 40s?

Sometimes the advantages of having a baby afterward in life can overpower those of having children when you’re in your 20s or 30s. 

• You may have already designated your career and can commit more time to raise children. 
• Your financial position could become more favorable.
• Find you are more mature and prepared to manage the responsibility of a kid.
• Lead your baby to have more suitable educational outcomes.

How can you Get Pregnant Naturally in your 40s?

• If you want to get pregnant at age 40, make sure you are as healthy as possible.
• Stop consuming alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco. 
• Consult with a doctor about prenatal vitamins with folic acid.
• Women with additional medical illnesses should ensure that their doctors know that they are attempting to conceive. So they can prepare their body for the pregnancy.

• Have a healthy diet, regular exercise, and maintain a balanced weight 
• Meet your regular gynecologist to identify areas for improvement and get personalized suggestions.
• Stay active in restricting your caffeine intake before and during pregnancy.
• Avoid certain unhealthy foods during pregnancy, like fast food 

How can you get Pregnant with Medical Treatments at age 40?

After implementing all the tips mentioned above, if you face difficulty conceiving, you should consult a doctor. Have a look at the following medical cures that you can acquire:

1. Oral Medications - 

Medicines like clomiphene or clomiphene citrate medicines can help increase the chance of ovulation. 

However, it has terrible effects as well. Oral meds can raise the chance of multiple pregnancies. There is a 10% possibility of having twins with such medications. 

These drugs have a 50% success rate for conception and delivery, but only if the patient is not ovulating. They do not mainly grow pregnancy chances if the patient is already ovulating independently.

2. Hormonal Injections - 

Gonadotropins and Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG) help stimulate fertility in more aged women.

Injections begin two to three days into the menstrual cycle and continue for seven to 12 days. You will require a doctor to execute a transvaginal ultrasound to watch egg size during surgery. 

The probability of multiple births is high for such remedies. Nearly 30% of women who conceive via injections retain numerous births, and two-thirds of these births are twins.

3. IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) - 

If there is any damage to your reproductive system driving problems with a delivery, a doctor can suggest you perform surgery like IVF to correct the issue.

In-vitro fertilization’s success counts decrease with age. Despite numerous women in their early and mid-40s can still get pregnant with their eggs if they consider having the proper fertility treatment. 

IVF is the fertilization procedure by removing eggs, retrieving a sperm sample, and manually merging an egg and sperm in a laboratory container. Later, the embryo will form and transfer to the woman’s uterus. 

Bottom Line - 

We understand there are undoubtedly many challenges in front of women trying to have a healthy pregnancy in their 40s, but you are not alone. Nowadays, the number of women having kids at this age is continually increasing with the help of new techniques.

We hope this blog will help you comprehend it is not too late to grow your family at age 40. You just need to have a healthy body, proper care, and medical treatments if required. Your chances of having a healthy baby are still prominent.