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Fertility For Women After 40 Naturally
As a woman gets older, getting pregnant becomes harder. Moreover, as she crosses 40, she experiences many changes in her life. Advanced age comes with a fair share of hurdles and adjustments.
Your eyesight suddenly begins to weaken. You don't have the energy that you once used to have. You feel that your body is failing you. You become susceptible to medical conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes and heart problems.
Your hair begins to grey at a more rapid pace. Moreover, to top it all, your fertility is reduced. However, the desire to have a baby becomes more vital.
Why Does Fertility Decrease with Age?
- Ageing of Eggs: As women age, the eggs remaining in their ovaries also age. This ageing process can lead to DNA damage in the eggs, making them less suitable for fertilization. Even if fertilization occurs, the resulting embryos might not implant successfully in the uterine lining.
- Gynaecological Problems: Older women often experience issues such as damaged fallopian tubes, uterine fibroids, and endometrial polyps. These conditions can negatively impact fertility.
- Decrease in Libido: With age, the libido, or sexual desire, tends to decline. Additionally, as male partners age, their sperm quality also deteriorates, further affecting fertility.
What is Advanced Maternal Age?
Definition: Advanced maternal age (AMA) or advanced reproductive age refers to women who conceive at 35 years or older.
Fertility Trends
- Decreasing Fertility: With age, the quality and quantity of eggs deteriorate.
- Difficulty in Conceiving: Women find it harder to get pregnant.
- Increased Risk of Miscarriage: The chances of miscarriage rise with age.
- High-Risk Pregnancy: Pregnancies in AMA are considered high-risk.
Reproductive Age
- Onset: Begins with the first menstrual cycle around age 12 or 13.
- Duration: Continues until menopause.
- Decline in Fecundity: Fertility declines with advancing age, indicating a limited fertile period in a woman's life.
- Optimal Age for Pregnancy: Elders often suggest that the best time to have a baby is between 25 and 35 years.
Changing Trends
- Delayed Parenthood: Increasingly, couples are choosing to start families after 35.
- Second Pregnancies After 35: Many women plan their second pregnancies post-35.
- First Pregnancies After 40: The number of women having their first child after 40 has significantly increased in the last decade.
- Advances in Fertility Treatments: Fertility treatments like IUI, IVF, ICSI, and egg freezing have reduced age-related barriers to parenthood, allowing older couples to conceive successfully.
What are the Steps to Increase the Chances of Pregnancy in Older Women?
Women of advanced maternal age often face difficulties in conceiving or may take longer to get pregnant. To address this, an advanced maternal age pregnancy guideline can help outline essential do's and don'ts before planning a pregnancy.
Fertility Decline
- Fertility decreases after the mid-30s and drops significantly by age 40.
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Book an AppointmentRecommendations to Boost Fertility
- Healthy Lifestyle: Maintain a healthy lifestyle and reduce stress.
- Prenatal Vitamins: Start taking prenatal vitamins like folic acid and DHEA supplements. DHEA can improve egg quantity and quality, reducing miscarriage risk.
- Awareness: Provide counselling on the effects of age on fertility.
- Early Evaluation and Treatment:
- Women over 35 should seek evaluation and treatment after six months of unsuccessful attempts to conceive.
- Women over 40 need immediate evaluation and treatment.
- Pre-Conception Check-Up:
- Conduct a thorough pre-conception check-up, including a detailed family history.
- Manage any chronic health conditions to reduce the risk of high-risk pregnancy.
- Genetic Counseling:
- Women over 35 should receive genetic counselling to understand the risk of genetic abnormalities, such as Down syndrome, which increases with age.
- The risk of Down syndrome is 1:350 at age 35, 1:100 at age 40, and 1:25 at age 45.
- Genetic testing is recommended to assess the likelihood of genetic abnormalities.
Conclusion
To increase pregnancy chances in older women, follow advanced maternal age guidelines, maintain a healthy lifestyle, take prenatal vitamins, and seek early evaluation and treatment. Counselling and genetic testing are essential for managing risks. With proper support and care, older women can successfully conceive and have healthy pregnancies.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, it is possible, but fertility significantly declines with age, making natural conception more challenging for many women over 40.
Fertility declines due to a decrease in the quantity and quality of a woman's eggs, along with age-related changes in hormone levels and reproductive health.
The chances of natural conception at age 40 are about 5-10% per menstrual cycle and decrease further with age.
Treatments include fertility medications, intrauterine insemination (IUI), in vitro fertilization (IVF), and using donor eggs, which can improve the chances of pregnancy.
Taking fertility supplements, eating a balanced diet, adding yoga into your daily life, and managing your stress levels will all help to improve the biological processes that support fertility and egg quality. Don't worry if you're 40 and just starting to consider about having kids!
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