Record number of new mums in 40s
THE number of women getting pregnant over the age of 40 has passed 30,000 a year for the first time.
For the fourth consecutive year, women aged 40 and above were the only age group with increased conception rates, according to Office for National Statistics data.
In 2019, there were 16.7 conceptions per 1,000 women aged 40 and over – totalling 30,015 pregnancies.
Childbirth for women in their 40s carries a higher risk to both the mother and baby.
However, the number of pregnancies in this age group has more than doubled since 1990, when records began.
The trend suggests more approaching middle age are choosing fertility treatments, or feel they have greater security in their finances and relationships.
But teenage pregnancies have fallen again. The conception rate for girls under 18 dropped from 16.8 per 1,000 in 2018 to 15.8 in 2019. In 2007, the figure was almost three times as high, at 41.6.
The number of conceptions for girls aged under 16 went up from
2,413 in 2018 to 2,430 in 2019, a rise of 0.7 per cent.Almost two-thirds of girls aged 16 or younger have their pregnancies terminated, as do 54.4 per cent of under-18s.
Despite having the largest annual drop (12.4 per cent) in conception numbers, the North-east remains the region in England and Wales with the highest rate among girls under 18.
Dr Asha Kasliwal, president of the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, warned that teenage pregnancies remain prevalent. “The statistics on under-18 conceptions show a decline in teenage pregnancies, even when taking into account the pandemic,” she said.
“In spite of the good outlook, we cannot afford to be complacent. More than half of local authorities have a ward with a rate significantly higher than the England average.”
The birth rate is falling, the ONS figures revealed. There were 821,089 conceptions in all ages in England and Wales in 2019, compared with 839,043 in 2018 – a fall of 2.1 per cent and the largest annual decrease since 2012.