Why is it that women over the age of 35 have a harder time getting pregnant? & bull; hello healthy

Every couple usually has their own agreement, when they will have children, whether it's the first child or the second child, pregnancy must be planned very carefully. However, a woman's fertility is influenced by many factors, one of which is age.

Above the age of 35 years, female fertility will decline. Even though you still feel young at this ripe age, the egg condition is actually not the same as when you were in your 20s. Then, why are women over the age of 35 having a harder time getting pregnant? This is the answer.

Not only skin aging, women will also experience reproductive aging

Apart from the risk of aging on the skin, women can also experience aging in their reproductive system. As we get older, women's eggs will decrease because women experience reproductive aging, this is different from men who can always produce sperm.

Two aspects affect the ability to produce eggs, namely the chronological age of the ovaries and the biological age of the ovaries. What is meant by chronological age is the age or number corresponding to the date of birth. Meanwhile, biological age is related to a woman's ovarian reserve when compared to women of the same age.

Meanwhile, the ovarian reserve is the capacity of the ovaries to produce eggs with a certain number and quality. Naturally, as we get older, a woman's egg cells will decrease as women experience reproductive aging.

The reproductive aging rate in women is also not the same, but it turns out that genetic and environmental factors also play a big role in biological aging of the ovaries which causes ovarian reserves to decrease. As a result, the biological age can be older than the chronological age. This makes it more difficult for women over the age of 35 to get pregnant.

Women's egg reserves shrink with age

According to research from the University of St Andrew and the University of Edinburgh, women in their 30s are less likely to get pregnant. Although women can still produce eggs throughout the age of 30 to 40 years, however, these ovarian reserves continue to shrink rapidly.

The results of this study found a significant decrease in egg cells rapidly. The quality of the eggs will also get worse as the woman gets older and this will increase the risk of the baby being born unhealthy.

From the results of the research it is also known that the average woman is born with 300,000 eggs. However, this number is decreasing at a much faster rate than originally thought. The study was conducted by looking at data from 325 women in the UK, US and Europe of various ages to see egg cells.

The data is then graphed regarding the average decrease in ovarian reserve potential throughout the life of the woman. Research shows that 95 percent of women by the age of 30 have only a maximum of 12 percent of ovarian reserves and by the age of 40 only 3 percent are left. This makes it more difficult for women over the age of 35 to get pregnant.

It's not only difficult to get pregnant, getting pregnant at this age has many risks

Furthermore, the results of the study also showed that there was a large difference in the number of eggs among women. Some women have egg cells of more than 2 million eggs, and some have only at least 35,000 eggs.

Through this research, women are also reminded not to be late or even postpone pregnancy plans, because women's fertility decreases after their mid-thirties.

In addition to the risk of giving birth to a baby with Down's syndrome, the risk of miscarriage and giving birth by caesarean section, pregnant women over the age of 35 also have the risk of the baby dying in the womb or during childbirth. Although this risk exists at every gestational age, in women aged 35 years and over, this risk is greater, which is 7 in 1000 pregnancies.