Late pregnancies are regularly singled out for the risks they entail (for the mother, the baby or even at the time of delivery) and it is rare to hear positive talk about it. Well, scientists have made a discovery that could change (a little) the game. According to their research, women who gave birth to their last child at age 33 and over would have a longer lifespan than those who had their youngest before age 29.
To reach this conclusion, the researchers used a preexisting database, the Long Life Family Study, and compared information from more than 300 women who had lived to at least 95 years of age. Result:women whose last pregnancy took place after 33 years are twice as likely to live beyond 95 years than others. If until now the reasons were still unclear, scientists at Columbia University believe that these results are linked to telomeres (the pieces of DNA protecting the end of chromosomes). The longer these are, the longer they are able to protect the individual, and therefore ensure a longer life. And the researchers discovered that the proportion of women with the longest telomeres was higher among those who had their youngest after 33 years (35.7% against 20% for the others). They still want to point out that no causal link has been demonstrated and that you should therefore under no circumstances schedule or postpone your pregnancy based on this study!
