Mothers over 40 risk childbirth dangers

Older mothers are significantly more likely to suffer severe complications during childbirth, new research has found.

Women who consider delaying having children until their 40s should be alerted to the findings, the authors said.

The study, published in the journal PLOS Medicine, examined rates of potentially life-threatening complications of giving birth such as kidney failure, obstetric shock, and amniotic fluid embolism.

Researchers found the risk increases in older mothers.

They examined data on more than 800,000 singleton births to women living in Washington State in the US between 2003 and 2013.

Compared with younger mothers, the risk of severe problems was 0.9 per cent higher for mothers 40 to 44 years, 1.6 per cent higher for mothers 45 to 49 years and 6.4 per cent for mothers over 50.