gms | German Medical Science

4th International Conference of the German Society of Midwifery Science (DGHWi)

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Hebammenwissenschaft e. V.

16.02.2018, Mainz

Mothers of very advanced maternal age – a descriptive secondary data analysis

Meeting Abstract

  • corresponding author Karin Niessen - University of Applied Sciences Osnabrueck, Faculty of Business Management and Social Sciences, Osnabrueck, Germany
  • Isabell Neisenmeier - University of Applied Sciences Osnabrueck, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, Osnabrueck, Germany
  • Sabine Metzing - University Witten/Herdecke, Witten, Germany
  • Friederike zu Sayn-Wittgenstein - University of Applied Sciences Osnabrueck, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, Osnabrueck, Germany

German Association of Midwifery Science. 4th International Meeting of the German Association of Midwifery Science (DGHWi). Mainz, 16.-16.02.2018. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2018. Doc18dghwiP24

doi: 10.3205/18dghwi30, urn:nbn:de:0183-18dghwi300

This is the English version of the article.
The German version can be found at: http://www.egms.de/de/meetings/dghwi2018/18dghwi30.shtml

Published: February 13, 2018

© 2018 Niessen et al.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. See license information at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.


Text

Background: Delaying motherhood is a worldwide ongoing trend in industrialized countries. In Germany, the number of women giving birth to a child at the age of forty (very advanced maternal age=VAMA) and above has tripled over the last two and a half decades [1]. Because of increasing risks and a socially perceived age limit, which is forty for women in Germany [2], motherhood of this age group is discussed controversially in public. Little is known about the living circumstances of women who decide at the age of 40 or above to become a first mother or to have another child. A previous literature review on international studies of the experiences of women of VAMA showed that sociodemographic characteristics are also always recorded.

Objective: The description of sociodemographic and health-related characteristics of the group of women of VAMA in Germany.

Question: What sociodemographic and health-related findings can be gained from existing databases for the group of mothers aged 40 and above?

Method: Exploratory secondary data analysis of three representative databases: A. Federal Statistical Bureau, 2015 [1] (n = 25.353); B. Socioeconomic Panel - SOEP, pooled sample 2010-2015 [3] (n = 797); C. Panel Analysis of Intimate Relationships and Family Dynamics - pairfam, pooled sample 2010-2015 [4] (n = 196). Inclusion criteria: women at the age of 40 years or older in the child's year of birth.

Results: A. Analysis of the birth rate by mother´s age: In total, 36,291 children of women of this age group were born alive. Most women of VAMA are multipara. Primiparas are the second largest group after the group of second-time mothers. B. Socio-demographic and health-related variables of the mother-child questionnaire were selected from the representative questionnaire SOEP: First-time mothers are more often unmarried; they use reproductive medicine more often, and are more likely to suffer from poor mental wellbeing after birth. Children of multiparous women are more likely to be unplanned, and the women complain more often about their poor physical condition in the last trimester of pregnancy. C. Further socio-demographic and health-related variables were selected from the relationship and family panel -pairfam: 40% of women of VAMA undergo a C-section; first-time mothers do not make use of out-of-hospital birth, but multiparas of VAMA do so more than average; particularly first-time mothers consider having further children to be realistic.

Relevance: The group of women of VAMA is described here for the first time in Germany. The differences between primiparas and multiparas provide reference points regarding practical health care for women and should be taken into account for further research.

Discussion: Women of VAMA are a heterogeneous group. The high proportion of multiparas is surprising as are the differences between first-time mothers and multiparas. As is known from other research, sociodemographic and health aspects influence pregnancy, birth and women´s experience on becoming a mother. In addition to the low sample size, particularly that of the first- time- mothers, in the SOEP and pairfam databases, the age cohort analysis in pairfam limits the age of its sample to a maximum of 48 years.

Ethical criteria and conflict of interests: The research was submitted to an ethics committee. The work was financed by third party funds from Federal Ministry of Education and Research FKZ: 01KX1113A, 01KX1113B. There is no conflict of interest.

The PDF file of the poster submitted for the meeting is available in German as Attachment 1 [Attach. 1].


References

1.
Statistisches Bundesamt. LG_biolgische_Geburtenfolge_Geburtsjahr_2009-_2015_kurz. Wiesbaden: 2016. [Datensatz auf Anforderung erhalten am 17.10.2016].
2.
Billari FC, Goisis A , Liefbroer AC, Settersten R A, Aassve A, Hagestad G, et al. Social age deadlines for the childbearing of women and men. Human Reproduction. 2011; 26(3):616-22.
3.
Sozio-oekonomisches Panel (SOEP), Daten für die Jahre 1984-2015, Version 32, SOEP, 2016.
4.
Bruederl J, Hank K, Huinink J, Nauck B, Neyer FJ, Walper S, et al. The German Family Panel (pairfam). GESIS Data Archive, Cologne. ZA5678 Data file Version 6.0.0; 2015.