Delayed Motherhood Increases Stillbirth

Women who become pregnant after 40 years are at greater risks of stillbirth, researchers say.  According to them, inducing labor early can solve the problem.

A stillbirth is the death of a fetus inside the uterus after 20 weeks of pregnancy.  According to the Still Born Still Loved Organization, nearly three million babies are stillborn across the world with 28,000 in the Unites States in a year.

A team of researchers from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) initiated to examine the factors that lead to poor birth outcomes.

Researchers noticed current trend of postponing pregnancy and childbirth to old ages contributing to this occurrence. For the study, they looked at previous studies. They found delayed motherhood increasing the risks of many pregnancy related complications like placental abruption, placenta praevia, postpartum haemorrhage and preterm delivery.

Adding to the list, the current study also found pregnant women who conceive at 40 years or after that at double risks of having a stillbirth at 39 or 40 weeks gestation.

Concerned with the findings, researchers urged women who become pregnant after 40 to go for labor induction and avoid the risks.

"Induction of labour in older mothers is a common method of intervention perceived to reduce the risk of stillbirth. While the mechanism for an excess risk of stillbirth in women of advanced maternal age is still fairly unknown, the findings collaborated in this paper provide a strong argument for an early induction of labour," co-author of the study, Dr. Mandish Dhanjal, said in a news release.