KatCarney

Women urged to have babies early
By Sarah Womack
(Filed: 01/09/2005)

Women should take a "baby break" from their careers in their late twenties to avoid the potential trauma of not being able to have children in their mid-to-late thirties, a report says today.

The theory that working women are leaving it too late to have children follows a survey showing that more than a third of women - average age 29 - who were deferring pregnancy were doing so because they were saving for a house, while a fifth wanted to establish their career.

Susan Hart, editor of Pregnancy & Birth magazine, which commissioned the poll of 2,000 women, said career opportunities could be recaptured but women should not waste fertility opportunities.

"By the age of 35 women are half as fertile as they were at 25 and by 40 women are half as fertile as they were at 35. We are not suggesting women start having babies the minute they are one step up the career ladder but that they think seriously about finding Mr Right and taking a career baby break by their late twenties."

Two thirds of couples who fail to conceive think their past lifestyle has contributed to their fertility problems.

But the most common causes of problems are not ovulating (39 per cent of women), polycystic ovary syndrome (20 per cent), blocked fallopian tubes (18 per cent) and low sperm count (19 per cent of men).

An estimated one in seven couples have fertility problems.

The average couple who failed to conceive said their GP only acknowledged their fertility problem after 17 months of trying for a baby.
http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/09/01/nbaby01.xml

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