DELAYED CHILDBIRTH

Factors Influencing Delayed Childbirth

The National Center For Health Statistics (1999) reports that contemporary women are having fewer children and having them later in life than their mothers' generation. Overall, first births among women over 30 rose to a record 22 percent of all births in 1995, as opposed to 5 percent of births in 1975. Further, the birth rate for women aged 4045 years rose 20 percent between 1990 and 1995, and increased 74 percent from 1981 to 1995. The rising birth rate along with the increasing number of women in this age group means that there were more babies born in 1995 to mothers in their 40s than in any year since 1966.

Papalia and Olds (1995) cite several factors for this delay in raising and rearing children. First, it is noted that more women now wish to finish their education before having their first ch

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lications, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, cesarean section, and for chromosomal abnormalities and growth retardation in babies. Rates of premature delivery and stillbirth are also said to increase, as does the chance of having multiple births (e.g., twins, triplets or higher order births). It is further noted that since about half of all pregnancies for all women in the United States are not intended, including in women over 35, it is very important that all women of reproductive capacity follow guidelines to promote reproductive health and pregnancy. According to O'Reilly-Green and Cohen (1993) another disadvantage of delayed childbirth involves parents' energy levels. In this regard, the authors report that older parents in general may complain of having less energy to devote to young children or may be at a stage in their careers in which they have less time for family participation than when they were younger. Also, grandparents, who can play a critical role in early childhood development, often have become too old to participate in that role or have died. Finally, O'Reilly-Green and Cohen (1993) report that part of growing older involves dealing with certain developmental stages such as midlife crisis; further, t
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Approximate Word count = 2601
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)

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