Women get pregnant later and later

Women get pregnant later and later

10.05.2011

In Germany, women are becoming mothers later, as a study by the health insurance KKH Alliance revealed. According to this, the birth rate of the 40- to 44-year-olds increased by almost 50 percent in 2010.

Germany's mothers are getting older and older at the birth of the first child, as a survey of the patient data of insured persons of the KKH Alliance revealed. While the number of women giving birth between the ages of 20 and 24 declined by 28 percent last year, the birth rate of 40- to 44-year-old mothers rose by a whopping 46 percent over the same period. Due to the increase in childbirth, more and more births had to be performed with the help of a Caesarean section. In younger women, the caesarean birth rate was just under 28 percent. For older women, the rate of incision was 45 percent. The main reason for this trend is likely to be the new career perspectives of women and demographic change.

In the medically conventional sense, pregnancies above a certain age of the mother are a so-called high-risk pregnancy. Almost one in two late-bearers gives birth to their child by means of a cesarean section. According to the health insurance company, a continuous increase in late pregnancies associated with a cesarean section has been observed for years. In 2010, nearly every third child (32 percent) was born by caesarean section, in 2004 it was every fourth newborn.

There are regional differences in incisions. In the new federal states, the rate of caesarean sections is much lower than in the old Länder. According to insured data, the caesarean section was 27 percent in the new federal states and 33 percent in the old states. Caesarean births were most frequently performed in Rhineland-Palatinate (38 percent). By contrast, the share of Saxony in 2010 was the lowest at 25 percent. (Sb)

Also read:
Cesarean birth rate reached record mark
DAK: Number of Caesarean sections is growing rapidly
Every third baby is born by caesarean section
Cesarean section: Networks for aftercare grow

Image: Templermeister, Pixelio.de