‘Stop terrifying older mothers’

Women who have babies over the age of 40 face only a “relatively small increase in risk”, a leading midwife has said. Cathy Warwick, who was chief executive of the Royal College of Midwives, questioned why people were “terrifying” women about having babies later in life.

She said: “Even if you have your baby at 42 or 45, it’s a relatively small increase in risk if you’re otherwise healthy. I’m not sure why we’re quite so worried about the age issue, and I’m not sure we should be terrifying women about it.”