During your twenties:
From a strictly biological perspective, your twenties are the best ten years for conceiving and carrying a baby. The chances of having a miscarriage or your child having birth defects like Down’s syndrome are low. Twenty-somethings also have a lower risk of health complications, high blood pressure and diabetes. RHS Medical Director Dr. Judith Albert has found that the difference between early and late twenties is negligible.
During your thirties:
The happy medium for motherhood: parents are apt to be more financially secure and have plenty of stamina and resilience - qualities that come in handy for parenting young children. In your early thirties, the chances of getting pregnant are only slightly lower than in your twenties. After 35, miscarriage rates and pregnancy complications rise slowly. At 35, a woman needs to think critically about whether or not she wants to have children, especially more than one.
Forty or older:
Now you are presumably more financially secure and able to provide a solid foundation for raising a family. However, it is harder to get pregnant because your number of eggs has declined and pregnancy complications are twice as high. But on the positive side, there’s no better time in history to try to get pregnant as an older women, given the range of new assisted reproductive technologies and the recent success of using donor eggs.
No matter what your age, here are a few things a woman should do before trying to get pregnant:
- Stop smoking
- Limit your caffeine and alcohol consumption
- Eat healthy and exercise (your Body Mass Index, or BMI, should be in the 20-30% range)
- Make efforts to reduce stress in your life