Pregnancy is a high risk to 36 years old women

The rate complication for pregnant women aged from 36 to menopause is high. Complications are observed to the mother as well as to the fetus.-By Lorraine Josiane Manishatse

Dr Sylvestre Bazikamwe, a Gynecologist.©Iwacu

High risk pregnancy means pregnancy with some complications. It is observed that out of 1OO women, between 10 and 15 risk getting problems. Women aged over 36 risk giving birth to a malformed baby more frequently than young women. “When people are old, their cells are deteriorating because of natural radiation. Consequently, gametes are damaged and the fetus becomes malformed,” highlights Dr Sylvestre Bazikamwe, a Gynecologist. He explains that, for women of under 36 years old have a body that can resist to radioactivity, that is not the case for women of more than 36. “For old women, there is a great risk of chromosomal aberration, which is a chromosomal abnormality which causes the baby’s malformation and a high frequency of miscarriage during the first term of the pregnancy,” he deplores.
It is worth mentioning that the age problem only concerns women. Fertilization occurs when there is a meeting of an ovum and a spermatozoid. Women’s ovum is deteriorating more and more when they age. “Men produce spermatozoids regularly whereas women are born with all ova stored into ovaries,” says Bazikamwe.
He adds that 15% of babies born from women aged over 36 risk suffering from Down syndrome, while for 38 and 40 years old women, the risk is of 30% and 40% respectively. According to the gynecologist, aged women have risk factors that can cause a slow fetal growth in the uterus. During pregnancy, those risk factors like diabetes, high blood pressure, pre eclampsia can affect b