房貸壓力使英國高齡產婦人數激增

One in five babies are now born to women over 35 as would-be parents feel pressure of high mortgages and debt.

One in five mothers is approaching middle age by the time she has a child, figures have revealed.

The boom in motherhood among older women means more than 140,000 babies were born to women of 35 or older last year - 20 per cent of all births in England and Wales.

The proportion of babies with mothers in their Late 30s and older has gone up by a third in ten years as more women delay having families.

Fathers are also increasingly likely to be close to middle age when they are faced with bringing up young children. The latest count showed that two thirds of new fathers are over 30.

The breakdown from the Office for National Statistics raised new questions over the trend for parents to be older and its impact on the health and upbringing of children.

Medical authorities say there are greater risks for mothers and babies when mothers are over 35, and older parents face a greater chance of ill-health or disability while their children are still young.

Numbers of older mothers have been shooting up in recent years, partly because more women are choosing education and careers over early marriage and family, and partly because many reach their 30s burdened with high mortgages, debt, and living costs that encourages them to postpone having children.

The trend to co-habitation rather than marriage also means many women are unwilling to have children while they are uncertain about the degree of commitment of their partner.

The new figures showed that 141,246 babies were born to mothers over the age of 35 last year, a fifth of the 706,248 births in England and Wales.

Of these, nearly 27,000 were born to mothers over 40; nearly 1,500 to mothers over 45, and 89 to women over the age of 50. In 1999, only 15 per cent of newborn babies had mothers over 35.

There have been a series of warning to older mothers about the risks of having children later in life.

Earlier this year Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists President Professor Sir Sabaratnam Arulkumaran said: 'Later pregnancy is associated with more complications and specialised obstetric help is required to care for this growing group of women.'

由於父母迫於高額房貸和債務的壓力，英國有五分之一的寶寶出生時，媽媽的年齡都超過了35歲。

數據顯示，五分之一的母親生孩子時都已接近中年。

高齡產婦的人數迅速增多，去年由35歲以上的產婦所生的寶寶人數超過14萬，佔英格蘭和威爾士所有新生兒的20%。

由於越來越多的女性推遲成家，35歲以上的產婦數量在十年內增加了三分之一。

年近不惑同時又要養育小孩的爸爸也越來越多。最新統計顯示，三分之二的新爸爸年齡都超過了30歲。

英國國家統計局系統出現的故障使得人們對父母生育年齡增長的趨勢，及其對孩子的健康和成長的影響提出了一些新的質疑。

醫學專家稱，超過35歲生孩子對產婦和寶寶都存在着較大的風險，而且年齡較大的父母在孩子尚年幼時，健康出狀況的可能性更大。

高齡產婦的數量近幾年來迅速增加，一部分原因是越來越多的女性選擇接受教育和專注於事業，而不是早早結婚生子。還有一部分原因在於許多30多歲的女性揹負着高額的房貸、債務和生活費用，迫使她們推遲生孩子。

伴侶間越來越多地選擇同居而非結婚，這一趨勢也意味着許多女性在不能確定伴侶的忠實程度時不願意生小孩。

新的數據表明，去年，在英格蘭和威爾士，年齡在35歲以上的女性所生育的嬰兒達14.1萬，佔兩地新生兒總數（70.6萬）的五分之一。

其中，近2.7萬嬰兒的母親年齡超過40歲，近1500個嬰兒的母親年齡超過45歲，還有89個嬰兒的母親年齡超過了50歲。而在1999年，只有15%的新生兒的母親年齡在35歲以上。

一直以來，高齡產婦們也經常會聽到有關晚育風險的警告。

今年早些時候，英國皇家婦產科學院院長薩巴拉特南•阿魯庫馬蘭教授曾說道：“晚育容易引起更多併發症。而且這些日益增多的高齡產婦，也需要特殊的分娩護理。”

Vocabulary:

Obstetricians and Gynaecologists:婦產科醫師

obstetric: of or relating to or used in or practicing obstetrics（產科的；產科學的；生產的）