Abstract
BackgroundAdvanced maternal age generally denotes age after 35 years during the time of delivery. Despite the fact that being pregnant at any reproductive age is not risk-free, older gravidity usually culminates with adverse outcomes both to the mother and fetus or neonate. This study aimed to determine the association of adverse obstetrical and perinatal outcomes with advanced maternal age pregnancy. The study was conducted in Ayder comprehensive specialized hospital, north Ethiopia, from 2015 to 2017.Methodschart review comparative cross-sectional study was employed. Data were retrieved from medical charts of 752 pregnant mothers (376 each for both the study;> 35-year-old and reference group;20-34 year old). Data was collected using a pretested and structured checklist using systematic sampling and data was entered & analyzed using SPSS version 20. Binary and multivariable logistic regression was run to determine the association of independent variables with dependent variables.ResultsThis study revealed that advanced maternal age pregnancy was significantly associated with pregnancy induced hypertension [AOR 4.15, 95% CI (2.272–7.575), p < 0.001], ante partum hemorrhage [AOR 2.54, 95% CI (1.32–4.91), P = 0.005] & cesarean delivery [AOR 2.722, 95% CI (1.777–4.170), p < 0.001]. Furthermore, advanced maternal age pregnancy was also increasingly associated with adverse perinatal outcomes like preterm delivery [AOR 3.622, 95% CI (1.469–8.930), p = 0.005], low birth weight [AOR 3.137, 95% CI (1.324–7.433), p = 0.009], perinatal death [AOR 2.54, 95% CI (1.141–5.635), p = 0.022] and low fifth minute APGAR score [AOR 7.507, 95% CI (3.134–17.98), p < 0.001]. Notwithstanding this, maternal age was not found to be associated with amniotic fluid disturbances, premature rupture of membranes and post-term pregnancy.ConclusionsAdvanced maternal age is markedly linked with adverse obstetrical and perinatal outcomes. Therefore, it is better for health care providers to counsel couples, who seek to have a child in their later ages, about the risks of advanced maternal age pregnancy. In addition, health care workers need to emphasize on how to improve advanced age mothers’ health through the utilization of contraception to reduce pregnancy in this age group.
Highlights
Advanced maternal age is usually defined as being 35 years or older which is believed to predispose mothers to enormous adverse outcomes during pregnancy [1]
Magnitude of adverse obstetrical outcomes This study revealed that the magnitude of pregnancyinduced hypertension and antepartum hemorrhage was 87 (11.6%) and 76 (10.1%), respectively
Association of Perinatal outcomes with maternal age This study found that perinatal death was associated with maternal age in which advanced age mothers were 2.54 times more likely to encounter perinatal death than adult pregnancy (AOR 2.54, 95% CI (1.141–5.635), p = 0.022)
Summary
Advanced maternal age is usually defined as being 35 years or older which is believed to predispose mothers to enormous adverse outcomes during pregnancy [1]. Advanced maternal age is associated with various economic, social and health complications to the mother and to the fetus or neonate as well [2, 5]. Various studies conducted on the topic elucidated that the aftermath of advanced maternal age (AMA) is highly linked with the occurrence of pregnancy-induced hypertension, DM, maternal near-miss, increased cesarean delivery, malpresentation, and maternal death. Despite the fact that being pregnant at any reproductive age is not risk-free, older gravidity usually culminates with adverse outcomes both to the mother and fetus or neonate. This study aimed to determine the association of adverse obstetrical and perinatal outcomes with advanced maternal age pregnancy. The study was conducted in Ayder comprehensive specialized hospital, north Ethiopia, from 2015 to 2017
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