DELAYING MOTHERHOOD IS BETTER FOR A WOMAN’S HEALTH, STUDY CLAIMS

mother and baby

We all know that as a woman ages, her fertility decreases but according to a study from Ohio State University, delaying motherhood is better for a woman’s health.

More and more women are delaying motherhood these days due to their career and financial pressures of raising kids. Even though the decision to raise kids later can be a very difficult one for women, this new study offers them a ray of hope.

The researchers found that women who delay motherhood until their late 20s and early 30s, are more likely to enjoy better health when they reach 40 years old while women who give birth to their first child between the ages of 15 and 24 have worse health in midlife.

The researchers also found that women who gave birth for the first time as teenagers and young adults reported similar states of health at midlife.

“We still need to be concerned that women who are having births in their early 20s may face more health challenges as they reach middle age than those who wait longer,” said Dr Kristi Williams, study co-author and an associate professor of sociology at The Ohio State University according to a Daily Mail report.

The researchers analysed data from 3,348 women who participated in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 which is conducted by Ohio State’s Center for Human Resource Research for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The study was co-authored by researchers from Ohio State, Cornell University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Akron.

The research was published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.

S.O.Z

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