Does that make you high-risk? Or do they determine that patient by patient?
-
High risk and AMA are different. I was neither, even though I was pregnant at 34 and delivered at 35 (in Europe, 40 is AMA).
edited to add: my understanding that AMA has been 35 in the US, but it's slowly creeping up to 40.
-
A friend is newly pregnant at 35, and her doctor told her she is neither.
-
No, Advanced maternal age and high risk are different.
-
No, you do not become automatically *high risk* at 35.
-
.@Smurfette: The medical term we usually use is "advanced maternal age" (or AMA). The reason 35 is traditionally considered AMA is that the risk of having a chromosomal abnormality (Down's syndrome, among others) reaches about 1/200 at this age. One common method of testing a fetus's DNA for a chromosomal abnormality is amniocentesis, where they put a needle into the amniotic fluid and draw it out. This procedure was considered to have a risk of inducing miscarriage of about 1/200, so at age 35, your risk of having a child with chromosomal abnormality is approximately the same as your risk of miscarriage. More recent studies suggest that amniocentesis is much safer than this and actually probably has a much smaller risk of inducing miscarriage. Before the maternity 21 test became widely used over the past year or two, amniocentesis was offered to women of advanced maternal age and covered by insurance.
-
So there really shouldn't be any difference in my prenatal care from my 1st pregnancy (33/34) to the next one? I was just wondering, I have no news to report!
-
@Smurfette: It will probably be so low-key that you will wonder just what the heck is up with all of the *over 35* talk . . . !
-
@MsLipGloss: I was thinking about it last night cause so many women are waiting later to have kids, seems normal these day. I know my doctor told me to not even be worried about being 35 and having another. Said there is no need for me to feel rushed to pop out another cause of my age.
-
i'm 35 and pregnant with #2...my doctor didn't mention anything to me
-
@Smurfette: I agree with your doctor, in all honesty, it feels like we're learning more and more about pregnancy and older mothers/fathers and things are slowly changing.
-
Our area considered AMA to be a higher-risk, but not full blown high risk...if that makes sense. I think they do some extra testing, but nothing crazy.
-
@Smurfette: Yep! My OB told me I could be slightly more concerned at 40+ . . . but that 35+ was pretty much *no biggie* (assuming a healthy mama to start with . . .). I also opted to have an amnio at 16 weeks because I wanted to know for sure whether or not everything was okay (to the extent that you can know, I wanted to know). Even though my risk numbers were so low, somebody represents the 1 in the 1 out of [fill in the number of your choice here].
-
I'm 38 and pregnant with my first (will be 39 when I deliver), and the only difference is that my OB wanted me to get some additional genetic testing, because the chances of Down's and some other genetic diseases goes up with age. Luckily, all of our screenings have been negative.
Other than that, it's been a pretty textbook pregnancy.
-
I was 37 with my first, and was AMA but was not high-risk. Even when I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes, I still wasn't high risk. But I was certainly more closely monitored.
As far as genetic testing, my doctor didn't push it. She told us it was our decision and that we really needed to consider what we would do with the information we received. In her opinion, if we weren't willing to abort the pregnancy there wasn't much value in having the genetic testing completed. We had a screening and NT scan, but did not have amnio or CVS done.
I will be inquiring about the Maternity21 testing this time around as I'm now 39 and will be 40 when #2 is born.
-
@MamaG: My only comment would be regarding the "value" of a CVS/Amnio . . . for some, even if they would not have chosen to abort, having several months to prepare for a LO who would have special needs is a huge benefit. For others, having the chance to spare their LO a short and very painful life is a huge benefit as well. I loathe when practitioners discount the benefits of genetic testing.
-
@MsLipGloss: I had a CVS and I personally would have wanted the time to prepare for a special needs child. So, I agree with you 100%.
-
@Smurfette: I am 36 and will be 37 when I deliver my first in August. I am not high risk. I am considered AMA since I am in the US however, my Dr. has never treated me that way at all or made an issue about my age. He actually said in one of my early appointments that women my age having children is pretty standard now. The only major thing I have noted was that my insurance would have covered the MaternT21 test if I opted to have it since I am over 35.
-
I'm 35 and pregnant with my 2nd. It didn't automatically make me high risk. But I developed GD this time (I didn't have it with my 1st) so now I'm monitored more. I have family history of diabetes but I was told age also plays a factor.
We're considering a 3rd child in about 2-3 years so I wonder how much different that pregnancy will be in terms of monitoring and tests.
-
@MsLipGloss: Yes! I apologize as I didn't articulate myself fully. I should have explained that I wasn't 100% in agreement with my doctor but I found the perspective interesting. I did tell my doctor that I felt like I would need time to accept our reality and prepare/educate myself for a child that might be born with genetic differences.
Honestly the genetic screening was one of the most challenging things for me in pregnancy as I really had to do some soul searching about myself as a person and parent. My spouse and I were not always on the same page in this regard either.
-
I am 35 and classified AMA but not high risk.
Reply
Subscribe to our newsletter
- Google Plus
- Stumbleupon
- Twitter
- Facebook
- Pinterest
- Favorite0
20 comments