Seeing That Pregnancy To Term

Preterm births have a direct link to the age of the mother, as a recent Canadian study has shown. In fact, expectant mothers in the 20 to 24 year age group, are at risk. We evaluate this in the Indian scenario

- Ruth Dsouza Prabhu

For those who go through peaceful pregnancies and have a safe delivery, the start to mo alth Organisation (WHO), approximately 15 million babies are born prematurely. India accounts for the highest number of preterm births at 3,341,000 per year – much higher than other countries, China included.

There are a number of factors ranging from age, lifestyle, medical complications and more, that can cause preterm deliveries. A recent Canadian study titled Effect of Maternal Age on the Risk of Preterm Birth: A large cohort Study, arrived at the conclusion that for mothers younger than 24 years and older than 35 years, preterm birth was significantly more frequent compared to the reference group of 30–34 years, which is the average age of first time mothers currently. Among women in the age group of 20-24 years, preterm birth was found to be primarily spontaneous. Spontaneous preterm births occur when an expectant mother goes into labour before her due date; her water breaks prematurely with no apparent reason or also when the cervix opens up with no prior indications.

With this study as a starting point, let’s take a look at the overall  scenario of motherhood in the country right now:

“In today’s world, women are delaying their first pregnancy due to higher educational goals, with the aim of pursuing a top class job and work commitments,” says Dr Bharati Kamoji, senior consultant - obstetrics and gynaecology, Aster CMI Hospital. “Lack of family support, combined with a cultural and value shift, make more women feel they are not ‘ready’ to have a child. The current statistics reveal that a majority of working women prefer to have their first child between the age group of 30 to 34 years.”