NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women, on average, are having their first child at about age 25, almost 3 years later than the 1970 average for first-time moms, according to a study released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The trend reflects a decline in the number of births to teenage mothers and the growing number of women having their first child in their 30s and 40s. Education and career opportunities, as well as improved contraception, times of relative prosperity, social support and marriage patterns are other factors that may contribute to women choosing to delay the age at which they have their first child, according to the report.

Lead author T.J. Mathews, a demographer with the National Center for Health Statistics, told Reuters Health that this trend was "not unexpected." This study was the first to look at ethnic and geographic differences within the US, he noted, adding that there has been "huge public interest" in motherhood-age trends.

Data compiled from birth certificates confirmed that the trend persisted across the nation and across all ethnic groups, though there was variation. Massachusetts, for example, showed the oldest average age for first-time mothers in 2000, almost 28 years, compared with Mississippi, in which first-time motherhood occurred on average at 22.5 years.

Mathews said that the ethnic make-up of the state and overall number of teenage births might account for the discrepancies seen among states.

Different ethnic populations also showed variation in the age of first-time motherhood. For example, the average age of first birth for non-Hispanic black women was 22.3 years, whereas Japanese-American or Chinese-American women had their first child at age 30.

Mathews pointed out that this discrepancy again might reflect a higher teenage pregnancy rate among certain populations, as well as the overall numbers of women of childbearing age in the state.

Waiting until later in life to have children is a well-documented trend among women in developed countries. In Switzerland, for example, the average age at which woman had her first child was 29.

According to Mathews, older women--as well as very young women--are at higher risk of complications during pregnancy and birth, and an increase in such complications might be one implication of the trend for US women to give birth later in life.

For more information see www.cdc.gov/nchs.

Reference Source 89

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