Older mothers rejoice! Having a baby in your 30s could give you a longer life, a new study has found

‘Genes that allow for late pregnancy benefit life span’

GIVING birth in your 30s can lead to longer life, according to a new study.

The findings will be welcomed by the growing number of women who are choosing to wait until later in life to give birth.

A new scientific study has revealed that women who have babies in their 30s can go on to live for longer.

Women who wait for motherhood risk difficulties conceiving and increased complications during pregnancy. But there is now some positive news, as the new study shows that it can result in a longer life expectancy.

Researchers compared the life expectancies of older women with the age they were when they gave birth to their children.

They found women who had children later were more likely to live for longer than those who give birth in their teens and 20s.

But fertility experts still warn that women should start trying for a child before they are in their 30s. Otherwise they risk being unable to conceive because the quality and quantity of their eggs declines.

But the new study, published in the Journal Of Public Health, throws fresh light on the issue and says women who can conceive later in life are more likely to die later too.

Its report said: ‘As the age of pregnancy increases, so does the life expectancy of the women at 65. In other words, the older the women are at birth, the longer they live.

‘Women who give birth later tend to live longer, and the genes that allow for late pregnancy benefit female life span.’

The study was conducted by researchers from the University of Coimbra in Portugal, who examined birth and life-expectancy data from all European Union countries.

The finding are replicated in the US, where another recent study, published in Menopause journal, reported that women who give birth later in life are three times more likely to have certain DNA markers of longer life.

The proportion of women over the age of 35 giving birth in the National Maternity Hospital in Dublin has surged in the space of 10 years.

The Irish Patients’ Association recently said: ‘Irish maternity services perform well but the average age at which mothers are having children is a factor. A study by the ESRI last year shows the proportion of births in women aged over 35 increased from 20% in 1999 to 33% in 2014.’

Last year, Holles Street hospital master Dr Rhona Mahony said the age increase brought a ‘huge amount of complication’ in births.

‘We are more likely to have difficulties such as gestational diabetes. We are more likely to have obesity. We are more likely to have everything,’ she said.