Older moms face greater health risks

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- The increasing number of women postponing childbirth until their 40s face greater risks during pregnancy and delivery, a California fertility specialist says.

Dr. Ingrid Rodi says the social and medical revolutions fueling today's over-40 baby boom are not without drawbacks, The Los Angeles Times reported Monday.

"Egg donation and fertility treatments make having children in your 40s more possible, but you start getting into progressive difficulties for mother and child," Rodi said.

Statistics indicate older mothers are at greater risk for developing high blood pressure and gestational diabetes as well as giving birth to premature or low-birth-weight babies.

Older women are also more likely to conceive twins or triplets naturally as well as to use fertility treatments that result in higher-risk multiple births.

A recently published analysis from the Public Policy Institute of California says births for U.S.-born women between 40 and 44 have increased threefold since 1982.