The number of British women aged over 45 who are giving birth has more than doubled in the past decade. This is a greater increase than is found in any other age group.
Advances in fertility treatment and the fact that many women are focusing on their careers before settling down to motherhood has produced a record rise in older mothers.
New figures show that 1,091 women aged 45 and over gave birth last year, compared with 540 in 1995. The statistics include those giving birth for the first time.
These findings from the Office for National Statistics are in stark contrast to the significant dip in the number of women choosing to have children in their twenties, although younger mothers are still in the majority.
Ten years ago, nearly 350,000 women between the ages of 20 and 29 gave birth. That figure has now fallen to below 300,000.
Yet the number of women over the age of 40 giving birth has nearly doubled from 11,319 10 years ago to 22,246 last year.
Full article: http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/article2114495.ece
