Number of older mums has trebled in 30 years

THE percentage of women over 35 having a baby has trebled since the 1980s, the ONS figures show.

Soaring birthrates among older women mean that for the first time those in their late 30s are more likely to become mothers than women in their early 20s.

And the over- 40s are almost as likely to have a baby as teenagers.

The continuing boom in births to older women means many are becoming mothers at an age when their forebears would have been thinking about becom- ing grandmothers. As a result, the average age of a new mother has risen again – to 30.2 last year, up from 26.4 in the mid-1970s.

Analysts at the ONS cited a series of reasons why women are delaying motherhood. They included increased numbers going to university, the growing importance to women of a career, and the rising cost of a child.

Their report also pointed to uncertain job security, the high cost of housing and instability of partnerships. Every age group over 30 showed rising birthrates last year, the ONS said. Among women aged between 35 and 39, the fertility rate rose by 2.5 per cent to 64.5 in every 1,000 – nearly three times the rate of 1984.

For those aged between 20 and 24, the rate was 60.1 per 1,000 and among the over40s it was 14.7 per 1,000.

Ann Furedi, of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, said: ‘Women are often warned about the dangers of leaving it too late, and this confirms that, far from facing a fertility cliff-edge at age 35, women still have a good chance of conceiving.’