| Many consider the 30s the happy-medium age for | | | | may recommend amniocentesis, chorionic villus |
| motherhood. You're more likely to be secure in your | | | | sampling, or other detailed screening during pregnancy |
| career and in your relationship, which will provide a firm | | | | from the mid-30s on. |
| foundation for your growing family. Hopefully, you and | | | | Miscarriage rates also rise slowly but steadily as |
| your partner have also had the chance to have some | | | | women age, as do pregnancy-related complications. A |
| adventures together before you embark on | | | | woman over 35 is more likely than a younger woman |
| parenthood, the greatest adventure of all. | | | | to have an ectopic pregnancy. Caesarean rates are |
| That's the good news. The bad news is there's a | | | | also higher for women over 35: first-time mothers this |
| tremendous difference between your ability to get | | | | age have a 40-per-cent chance of a caesarean |
| pregnant in your early versus your late 30s. As the | | | | delivery compared to 14 per cent of first-time mothers |
| decade progresses, a woman's fertility goes into free | | | | in their 20s. No one knows for sure why the |
| fall. That's why fertility experts caution women in their | | | | caesarean rate is higher for older mothers, but some |
| 30s not to wait too long, particularly if they want more | | | | experts believe it's partly because doctors tend to |
| than one child. | | | | treat older mothers as "high risk" during pregnancy and |
| Pros | | | | labour even if their pregnancy is straightforward. |
| In many ways, having children in your 30s makes | | | | Of course, every woman ages at her own pace, but |
| financial and practical sense. You probably have a | | | | experts say that, at 35, a woman needs to get serious |
| higher income and a better financial cushion than in | | | | if she wants to have children; especially if she wants |
| your 20s, because you've had more time to become | | | | more than one. "I always tell women to think about that |
| established in the working world. Yet you may have | | | | second pregnancy," says fertility specialist James |
| more flexibility than a woman in her 40s, who might | | | | Goldfarb. "At age 35 or 36, many women need only |
| find it personally and professionally difficult to interrupt a | | | | minor, if any, medical intervention to get pregnant, but |
| high-level career to have a child. | | | | by the time they're ready for their next child, say at 39, |
| Before trying for a baby, it's a good idea to take a | | | | those same treatments are less likely to work." |
| long, hard look at your finances to make sure that they | | | | Your odds of success |
| won't take too much of a dent after you have your | | | | Dr Goldfarb, who sees couples struggling with fertility |
| baby. Will you be able to keep up your superannuation | | | | issues every day in his clinic, puts the statistics into |
| and mortgage payments, for example? Should you | | | | perspective: "There's a clear drop-off in fertility |
| switch to flexible plans so that you can pay less for a | | | | between ages 29 and 35, but the majority of |
| while? Are you getting the best possible deals for | | | | 35-year-old women still won't have a problem," he |
| things like gas, electricity, broadband and credit cards? | | | | says. "However, by 38 or 39, age becomes a big |
| If you plan to stop working for a while, it pays to hang | | | | factor." |
| onto your skills and contacts. This will smooth your | | | | Overall, in your 30s you have about a 15-per-cent |
| transition back to work when you do decide to return. | | | | chance of getting pregnant in any single ovulation |
| Keep up with trade publications, attend conferences, | | | | cycle, according to leading fertility specialist Sherman |
| have an occasional lunch with former colleagues, or | | | | Silber, author of four bestselling fertility books, including |
| take a refresher course. Of course, if you fancy a | | | | How to Get Pregnant. Your chances of conceiving |
| change in direction, now is a great time to retrain or to | | | | within a year of starting to try are about 75 per cent. |
| put that business idea you've had for ages into action. | | | | But since fertility wanes as the decade progresses, in |
| New mums in their 30s also have a lot of stamina and | | | | your late 30s your chance of getting pregnant within a |
| resilience, qualities that come in handy for parenting | | | | year drops to 65 per cent. |
| young children. While everyone develops differently, | | | | Your miscarriage risk rises slowly throughout the 30s, |
| women at this age are likely to know themselves | | | | from about 12 per cent for ages 30 to 34 to 18 per |
| better than women in their 20s do and are less likely to | | | | cent for ages 35 to 39. First-time mums over 35 have |
| be as set in their ways as women in their 40s. | | | | a 40-per-cent chance of having a miscarriage, |
| Nicole, director of sales for a large hotel, had one child | | | | compared to 14 per cent for first-time mothers in their |
| in her 20s, three in her 30s, and one at 41. If she had to | | | | 20s. |
| choose, she would pick the 30s as the ideal | | | | At age 30, the risk of having a child with Down's |
| childbearing decade: "Your career is launched, you still | | | | syndrome is one in 910. That risk jumps to one in 380 |
| look and feel great, and you have the energy to keep | | | | when you're 35. |
| up with your kids," she says. "You're more relaxed | | | | Age 35 to 39 is also when women are most likely to |
| about being a parent than you were in your 20s, so | | | | have twins than at any other age; even without the |
| you can have more fun, and you aren't as tired as you | | | | fertility treatments that raise the odds for multiple births. |
| are in your 40s. You think you can do it all, and in your | | | | Typically, you release one egg per menstrual cycle. But |
| 30s, you almost can." | | | | as you get older, your levels of follicle stimulating |
| Cons | | | | hormone (FSH) increases. When this hormonal surge |
| Every study you read or expert you consult will agree: | | | | occurs, there's a chance that you may release more |
| 35 is the age of reckoning for women when it comes | | | | than one egg, upping the odds of a multiple birth. So |
| to having children. In your early 30s, your chances of | | | | while older women are statistically less likely to get |
| getting pregnant are only slightly lower than in your late | | | | pregnant, if they do get pregnant, they're more likely to |
| 20s and your risk of a miscarriage or a baby with | | | | have twins. |
| Down's syndrome only slightly higher; but at 35, that | | | | To get pregnant the normal and natural way in spite of |
| decline in fertility begins to accelerate. Age 35 is also | | | | being told otherwise, go to how to get pregnant. The |
| the point when Down's syndrome and other genetic | | | | one and only resource you would need to be able to |
| abnormalities become more of a concern, so doctors | | | | conceive easily without any invasive surgeries. |