What is the best age to have children according to scientists?

A new study, which followed 31,000 births, suggests that the best age to have children is in between 23 and 32 years old. During this time, babies would have less risk of birth defects.

According to the study, teenage mothers and women in their early twenties were more likely to give birth to children with central nervous system defects, which affected things like brain and spine development, while mature pregnancies were linked to deformities of the head, neck, eyes, and ears. .

The study, conducted by Hungarian researchers at Semmelweis University, looked at the relationship between maternal age and non-genetic birth defects. The results were published in BJOG: an International Journal of Obstetrics and gynecology.

The researchers evaluated 31,128 pregnancies with complications caused by non-chromosomal developmental disorders, using data from the Hungarian Case-Control Monitoring System for Birth Anomalies between 1980 and 2009. They then compared the data with 2,808,345 births registered at the Hungarian National Statistics Office over the same 30 years.

“We first tried to determine the 10-year period during which there were the fewest birth defects. We found that between 23 and 32 may be the ideal age for childbearing. We then identified age groups where the risk is higher compared to this safer period,” said Dr. Boglárka Pethő, principal investigator of the study.

The researchers found that the risk of developing non-chromosomal abnormalities increased 20% in total for births below 22 and 15% above 32 compared to the ideal childbearing age (23-32).

Professor Nándor Ács, head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Semmelweis University, explains that research can play an important role in establishing protocols for pregnancy detection and care.

“Because it’s childbearing age in today’s worldand is delayed until the end pointit is more important than ever to respond appropriately to this trend,” he said.

As for possible causes, the expert emphasized that the risk for young mothers can be mainly caused by lifestyle factors (smoking, drug or alcohol use) and that they are often not prepared for pregnancy.

Among older mothers, elements such as accumulation of environmental factors such as exposure to chemical products and air pollution, deterioration of DNA repair mechanisms, aging of the ovules and endometrium could have an effect.

Experts warn that prevention is key for mothers over 32 years old. They recommend taking folic acid and vitamins and adapting screening protocols to age-related risk factors worldwide.