14 DAY TRIAL // Even if the general opinion of people is that a woman who gives birth to a child after she is 40 or 50 puts in danger both her health and that of her baby, a recent study showed that it is safe for women to become mothers as late as in their fifties. The research was conducted by a team of scientists at the University of Southern California (USC) who found that women who want to become pregnant and give birth to a child while in their 50's are safe from any psychological or physical health disorder. However, women who are over 55 have an increased risk of encountering pregnancy complications, such as preeclempsia.
Co-researcher of the study Anne Steiner of the University of Southern California pointed out: "There is reason to say, in the absence of other data, that maybe we shouldn't jump to the conclusion that it's wrong for women to become mothers at this age. The conclusion from this study, though it is limited and of small size, is that if we look from the perspective of stress and physical and mental functioning, it doesn't seem like we can restrict parenting based on these reasons."
The trial was carried out during the 1992-2004 period of time and involved 49 women who became mothers at or after they turned 50, after going through a fertility treatment. Findings of the study are going to be presented at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine conference held in New Orleans and showed that women who gave birth in their fifties were found to be as healthy as their peers who became mothers in their thirties of forties.
Dr. Richard Paulson who conducted the study with Anne Steiner stated that society's prejudices about older mothers should be put a stop to one way or the other, as women who give birth to babies later in their lives can be as good parents as their younger counterparts. He said: "Society still has these feelings about motherhood. The way we view the mother is much more circumscribed than for the father: she should be young and attractive. That is underneath all this talk about the ethics and legality of treating older women. Deep down, society has a fixed idea of what motherhood should be, and this causes deep discomfort."