Women's health: 5 common diseases moms over 30 may experience and tips to prevent it

Being a mother is an extremely wonderful experience and a joy of a woman could have in her lifetime. With concept about late marriages and in circumstances to build one’s own career some women may choose to get pregnant at a later age. There could be some concerns when a woman gets pregnant after the age of 30 years. The five major things that we could consider when there is pregnancy beyond 30 years are:

Increased chances of miscarriage- With a women’s age more than 30 years, chances of miscarriage increase more than 15 percent in comparison to other women with less than 30. This may be because of pre-existing medical conditions or because of chromosomal conditions in the baby. However it can affect the mental health of a woman after undergoing a miscarriage. Most of the times, it is one of event. In one percent of the population, it can recurring. Therefore, it’s extremely important to find out the cause and provide adequate and effective treatment to prevent this from happening in the future. These women need tender loving care to overcome the situation.

Increased incidence of thyroid problems –Hypothyroid in pregnancy is increasingly seen nowadays and some cases of hyperthyroidism have also been observed. With increasing facility to detect these endocrine problems, more number of cases are coming into picture.

Gestational diabetes- with the ongoing age, stress, family history, Asian ethnicity, incidence of diabetes in pregnancy is on the rise. Lifestyle plays an important role in controlling the same. Women with gestational diabetes must maintain tight control of blood sugar through diet and physical activity. Sometimes medication or injections are needed too. If left untreated, gestational diabetes can cause a baby to grow larger than average. Having a larger baby increases the risk of injuries during delivery like baby’s shoulder getting stuck during delivery, fracture of clavicle, tears in the mother, excessive bleeding, etc. Therefore gestational diabetes increases the risk of premature birth, high blood pressure during pregnancy, and complications to infant after delivery.

Pregnancy induced hypertension- with advanced age, stress and family history of high blood pressures, risk of hypertension in pregnancy is also seen. Women are born with a limited number of eggs. As they reach mid- to late 30s, the eggs decrease in quantity and quality. Also their eggs aren’t fertilized as easily as they were when they were younger. Women may choose to undergo treatment for the same. Women with IVF conception and having twin pregnancy, puts them at a risk of high blood pressure in pregnancy.

Obesity and stress/ lifestyle concerns – this is a major concern which is on the rise. Obesity while pregnant, especially BMI more than 30, comes with a risk of Gestational Diabetes, Hypertension in pregnancy, increased risk of bleeding post delivery, tears during normal delivery, baby’s shoulder getting stuck during delivery. Although weight reduction is not recommended, women with higher weight are advised to gain weight wisely.

When we plan for a healthy outcome for both mother and the baby, we need to have a holistic approach towards her. Sometimes there are chances of delivering before 37 weeks of gestation, which can lead to health complications for the baby. Hence it’s extremely important for us to counsel her adequately. After age 35, there’s a higher risk of pregnancy-related complications that might lead to a C-section delivery. Pre pregnancy counselling is extremely important for all women. It gives us a window of opportunity to optimise her health, address these issues, start medications if required and focus on her generalized well being. Pre pregnancy Folic acid supplementation can be initiated as well. During this pre pregnancy counselling we focus on her weight management, a good diet, moderate exercises, stress management and discuss about ideal time that she can work out on being pregnant considering her age, social commitments, professional commitments and good family support. When she gets pregnant, we ask her to keep up with prenatal visits. This allow to monitor her health and baby’s health. She is encouraged to mention any symptoms that concerns her. Remember, the choices that a woman makes even before getting pregnant, can have a lasting impact on her baby. Overall we should always target to achieve a healthy mother and a healthy baby outcome.

Dr. Rashmi Patil - MBBS, MS(OBG), DNB, MRCOG(UK), EFOG-EBCOG(Europe), FACOG, FICOG, FKCOG, FMAS Senior Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, Laparoscopic Surgeon and Fertility Specialist Apollo Hospital Bannerghatta Road, Bengaluru