5 Risks Associated With Getting Pregnant Over 40 - Important Things to Know

There are many instances today of women getting pregnant over 40 years of age. This is because of women's growing financial independence as well as the high standard of healthcare available these days. In fact, lots of women prefer to have their babies in their 40s and sometimes even their 50s after they have consolidated their careers and built a sufficient amount of wealth.

If you have held off having a baby till the time you've turned 40, then you do have to consider a few important risk factors:

- High blood pressure that can sometimes lead to a life threatening condition called pre-eclampsia. This condition can damage internal organs both of the mother and the unborn child and is one of the major risks involved with pregnancy in older women.

- Placental problems such as placenta previa (when the placenta covers the cervix partly or fully leading to bleeding and cramps) and placental abruption (when the placenta separates from the uterine wall leading to death of the mother or baby)

- Pre-term birth at around 7 to 8 months of the pregnancy. The babies thus born tend to have low birth weight and also have respiratory problems.

- Higher incidence of birth defects caused due to chromosomal abnormalities. Down's Syndrome is a very common problem.

- Gestational diabetes. The mother's raised blood sugar levels generally subside after the baby is born. However, the child tends to become very large in these cases, leading to very difficult births.

These are just risks that women who plan to get pregnant after 40 years of age should be aware of. This does not mean that every woman who delays getting pregnant will necessary suffer from these or other problems. However, women who get pregnant over 40 should be extremely careful about what they eat and do.

If you are a pregnant woman in your 40's you just need to watch your diet very carefully. You need to cut out all foods that contain refined sugars and flour. You should also stay away from saturated fats. Exercise is very important during any pregnancy, but more so in your case. You should also get regular medical check-ups done in order to ensure that both you and your unborn child are doing well. As long as you are careful then there is no reason why you can't have a safe and enjoyable pregnancy over 40.