Background
Demographics of childbearing
The definition of ‘older mother’ or ‘advanced maternal age’ is something that is open to
debate and there is no agreed point when one becomes ‘an older mother’. Cooke et al
(2010) in their meta-synthesis of qualitative studies on women’s experiences of older
motherhood found a range of cut off points in the literature with some studies defining it as
30≤, some 32 ≤ and one 37 ≥. In the literature most authors define it as 35≤ and with very
advanced maternal age defined as 45≤ (Carolan et al, 2013).
In the England and Wales1
the age of first time motherhood is rising: in 2012 the average
age of women having their first baby was 28.1 years compared to 26.8 in 2002 and the
average age of all mothers was 29.8. Numbers of births to women over 35 have been
increasing since the mid-1970s: in 2012 19.8% of births were to those over 35 (35-39 =
15.7%; 40-44 = 3.8; 45 and over 0.3%), slightly less than 2011 – 20% of births to those 35≥.
While this may seem high, it is interesting to note that in 1938 (the first year included in the
National Statistics) the figure was 16.7% rising to 19.7% in 1945. After the war this
percentage decreased steadily until the mid-1970s (where the percentage was at its lowest,
5.5, in 1977), after this it began to rise to reach current levels (that are not that dissimilar
from those in the mid 20th Century) (UK National Office of Statistics, 2013). There are
regional differences in maternal age in England: ‘London accounted for the greatest number
of deliveries according to population size at 19.1 per 1,000 of the population for mothers
aged 40 to 44 and 1.5 per 1,000 of the population for mothers aged 45 to 49. One in twenty
of all deliveries (5.1 per cent) in this region were to mothers aged 40 to 49 - the highest
percentage of any region. London also recorded the greatest actual number of deliveries for
1
In this paper figures will be used for England predominately, except where English statistics are
included with other countries (such as in the case of the National Office of Statistics - Wales).Page 3 of 13
this age group - at 6,260.’ (NHS Maternity Statistics, Press Release, 2012) In Finland 2
the
demographics of maternal age are very similar to England and Wales. The mean age for first
birth was 28.4 in 2011 and births to those over 35 was 18.7% (35-39 = 15.1%; 40-44 = 3.4;
45 and over 0.2%) compared to 13.3% in 1987.