Are There Risk Factors for Pregnancy Complications?
Older women (over 35) have a higher probability than younger women of experiencing high blood pressure, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease while pregnant, but these conditions are controllable with good medical care. Older women also are more prone to miscarriage, preterm labor, and postpartum (after birth) bleeding, and they have an increased risk of having a child with birth defects. On the other end of the age spectrum, teen mothers are twice as likely to have premature babies and babies with low birth weight than are older mothers. Teenagers also are prone to premature labor, prolonged labor, toxemia, and anemia. About 1/3 of pregnant teens do not receive adequate medical care during pregnancy (as compared with about 1/4 of older women). Finally, while the chance of dying from pregnancy-related complications is very low overall, the rate is much higher in women younger than 15 than in women older than 15.
