Pregnancy and delivery in advanced maternal age: epidemiologic aspects and prognosis

Pregnancies in old age are a topical subject for both women and health professionals because of their increasing frequency. In Chad, pregnancy and childbirth in old age is a frequent phenomenon. So, we initiated this study to evaluate the prognosis of pregnancy and childbirth in old age. Patients and method: This was a descriptive prospective study about maternal and fetal prognosis of pregnancies in old age covering a period of 3 months, from 1st January to 31st March 2017. Were included in the study all parturient aged ≥ 35 years, a pregnancy age ≥ 28 years that have accepted to participate to this study. Results: During the study period we recorded 104 parturient with age ≥ 35 years among 8442 parturient giving a frequency of 1.23%. The average age was 36.7 years with extremes age of 35 and 45 years. Thirty five year-old were more represented with 45.2%. The majority of patients were married. The no uneducated had represented 75% of cases. The multiparous were more represented with 65.4%. Sixty-five (62.5%) did attended prenatal consultation. The pregnancy was at term for ninety-three (89.4%). The majority delivered by the vaginal route (87.5%). Hypertension was the most common complication with 12.8%. No maternal death has been reported. Fifty-eight newborns (53.7% had a birth weight between 3500-3999g. Thirty two newborns (29.6%). presented complications Perinatal asphyxia was the most common fetal complication with 8.3%. However, the perinatal death rate was 17.6%. Conclusion: Childbirth among women age ≥ 35 years is an infrequent phenomenon, with complications recorded that can be maternal or fetal.