Oh baby!

Research tells us that women are having their babies later in life and news stories often scare us with the risks involved. I was 36 when I had my baby, it wasn’t something I planned for that stage in my life but that’s when it happened and I couldn’t have been happier.

Of course there are risks – but there are riskes whatever your age. Do newspapers and television have to rub it in with so much scaremongering?

I was interested to read about a new book this week, due out in December, called Pregnancy: Older Women – An Essential Guide. The publishers Need2Know call it a “friendly guide” that “walks mothers and partners through every stage of pregnancy…” I’m not saying women shouldn’t know about the risks – after all knowledge is power – but I think there’s a way to inform that isn’t about scaring you to distraction.

I was blessed, as was my good friend who had been told she had no chance of getting pregnant then gave birth to her son when she was 45.

Whatever age the babies come along, it’s a part of a woman’s life to be celebrated and embraced, not something to be afraid of.