There are an awful lot of studies that would scare you shitless if you're 40 and pregnant.
Meanwhile, the advantages of being a mama-to-be aged 35 and under are well documented.
But guess what... being 'older' and expecting comes with its own, unique set of advantages too. And suffice to say that it's completely useless to start worrying about the 'what ifs' - regardless of your age and circumstances.
With that in mind, HerFamily brings you the six ways being pregnant and over 40 is actually pretty great:
1) You know what you want
Maybe you waited until later to get pregnant; maybe your pregnancy comes following fertility treatment; maybe you didn't meet the right person until your late-30s. Whatever the reason, if you're expecting aged 40 or older it's likely that you this is something that you really, really want. And that's only a good thing for you and your growing family.
2) You live longer
So say researchers from the
University Of Utah who discovered that women how have babies naturally in the 40s or 50s tend to live longer than other women. "If women in your family give birth at older ages, you may well have a chance of living longer than you would otherwise," said the study’s lead author, Ken Smith.
3) Financial stability
We're not saying being 40+ automatically means you're rolling in cash, but for most people your 20s and early 30s are pretty hit-and-miss financially. In contrast, being that bit older allows to you to have a bit more money - and not having to worry about paying your basic utility bills gives you more time to focus on your little one.
4) Age is just a number
The more important factor is how healthy you are; so if your diet is good, you exercise, and sleep reasonably well - you shouldn't worry needlessly.
5) You're in good company
Far from being unusual - older mums are becoming more and more common. In Ireland, births to first-time mums in their 40s has more than doubled in the last decade alone: in 2015 close-to 1,000 women aged 40 or older had first babies, while CSO figures also show that another 3,ooo+ women in the same age bracket had second, third, and fourth babies.
6) You'll have a supercharged baby
The offspring of older women are less likely to have accidents or need hospital care and more likely to have been vaccinated early, a
Royal College Of Paediatrics And Child Health conference in Glasgow announced in 2012.
