Risk of having a miscarriage ‘rockets for older mums’

THE likelihood of miscarrying soars for older mothers, scientists warned last night.

Miscarriage affects one in eight pregnancies, and usually occurs within 12 weeks of conception.

A study in the British Medical Journal found the rate was lowest among women aged 25 to 29, at 10 per cent.

It rises slightly to 11 per cent among women in their early thirties and to 17 per cent among women aged 35 to 39. The risk then spikes to 32 per cent among those in their early forties and 54 per cent over the age of 45.

The study comes as the number of women starting a family later in life has shot up in recent decades as more of them put their career before having children.

Women now have their first child five years later on average than four decades ago, and there are more births to over40s than teenagers in the UK.

The study, by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, involved 420,000 women who became pregnant between 2009 and 2013. It also found those who miscarried had a high risk of further miscarriages.