Is there a safest period for pregnancy in a woman’s life? A period when the likelihood of giving birth to a baby with an abnormality is very low. Well, there is scientific evidence that the older a woman becomes the higher her risk of being pregnant and having a baby with one form of abnormality or the other, the most common being Down Syndrome.

A baby is formed when a man’s sperm cell meets and fertilizes a woman’s egg (ovum) in the woman’s fallopian tube and the fused cell then rolls down to implant in one part of the wall of the uterus. A man produces new sperm cells (in the hundreds of millions every 3 days.

However, this is not the case for the woman. All the eggs in a woman (about 2 million in her ovaries) are already formed by the time she has been given birth to. She does not produce any additional eggs after birth. These eggs are known as follicles at this stage and many of them die out as the girl grows. By the time the girl reaches puberty (between 9 and 13 years) when she starts seeing her period, the number of eggs left is about 400,000.

From puberty onwards until menopause, the woman’s ovary expels (ovulation) one egg into her fallopian tube which may be fertilized by a sperm cell if she has sex around this time of ovulation; if she does not have sex, the ovulated egg breaks down and gets shed as menstrual flow along with the worn-out lining of the wall of the womb, marking the beginning of a new menstrual cycle. At the beginning of each menstrual cycle, over 50 eggs all start a journey to get ovulated, but only one in most cases get to be ovulated while the rest die out along the way. This ensures that only the healthiest egg gets successfully ovulated; the rest of the eggs that don’t make it usually contain one abnormality or the other in their chromosomes (the entire genetic makeup from the woman that contributes to 50% of the baby’s makeup).

As a woman gets older, especially after 35 years of age, more of her eggs begin to develop these chromosomal abnormalities and the higher the possibility that she may ovulate an egg with a chromosomal abnormality. This egg can become fertilized by a man’s sperm cell, leading to growth and development of a baby with an abnormality. If the abnormality is very severe, the woman’s body will naturally get rid of the baby at the very early stage in the form of a miscarriage. A less severe abnormality may see the baby survive and the woman giving birth to a child with conditions like Down Syndrome (these children look alike all over the world with a flat nose, big tongue, low-set ears and other features).

Complications in pregnancy such as hypertension and diabetes mellitus are more likely to occur in pregnant women who are above 35 years of age.

So, when is the safest period for a woman to be pregnant and have children? Based on multiple scientific studies, this period spans from the age of 20 to the early 30s (before 35 years), with the 20s being the most fertile period in a woman’s life.

This does not mean a woman cannot raise a family in her 30s and even 40s, but she will need the close attention of a medical doctor to ensure a healthy pregnancy and safe delivery. This means planning for her pregnancy with her husband before she takes in: going for a comprehensive medical evaluation with her husband to rule out and treat/counsel any medical conditions and lifestyle that may affect pregnancy. This is known as preconceptional care and the couple should be on a family planning method for sex until they are certified healthy to get pregnant. When the woman gets pregnant, she must register for and receive antenatal care regularly and always visit her doctor any time she experiences something unusual.

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Written by Dr. Okechukwu Amako, MB;BS (Ibadan)

Tags: antenatal care, diabetes in pregnancy, down syndrome, hypertension in pregnancy, menopause, menstruation, ovulation, preconception care, pregnancy, puberty

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Nice one..... keep it up

Good One OP, the write-up makes excess sense