中國網(wǎng)站品牌欄目（頻道）
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 Giving birth later in life: Some 20 per cent of babies born in England and Wales last year had mothers aged 35 and over. |
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One in five babies are now born to women over 35 as would-be parents feel pressure of high mortgages and debt. One in five mothers is approaching middle age by the time she has a child, figures have revealed. The boom in motherhood among older women means more than 140,000 babies were born to women of 35 or older last year - 20 per cent of all births in England and Wales. The proportion of babies with mothers in their late 30s and older has gone up by a third in ten years as more women delay having families. Fathers are also increasingly likely to be close to middle age when they are faced with bringing up young children. The latest count showed that two thirds of new fathers are over 30. The breakdown from the Office for National Statistics raised new questions over the trend for parents to be older and its impact on the health and upbringing of children. Medical authorities say there are greater risks for mothers and babies when mothers are over 35, and older parents face a greater chance of ill-health or disability while their children are still young. Numbers of older mothers have been shooting up in recent years, partly because more women are choosing education and careers over early marriage and family, and partly because many reach their 30s burdened with high mortgages, debt, and living costs that encourages them to postpone having children. The trend to co-habitation rather than marriage also means many women are unwilling to have children while they are uncertain about the degree of commitment of their partner. The new figures showed that 141,246 babies were born to mothers over the age of 35 last year, a fifth of the 706,248 births in England and Wales. Of these, nearly 27,000 were born to mothers over 40; nearly 1,500 to mothers over 45, and 89 to women over the age of 50. In 1999, only 15 per cent of newborn babies had mothers over 35. There have been a series of warning to older mothers about the risks of having children later in life. Earlier this year Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists President Professor Sir Sabaratnam Arulkumaran said: 'Later pregnancy is associated with more complications and specialised obstetric help is required to care for this growing group of women.' (Read by Nelly Min. Nelly Min is a journalist at the China Daily Web site.) (Agencies) |
由于父母迫于高額房貸和債務(wù)的壓力，英國有五分之一的寶寶出生時，媽媽的年齡都超過了35歲。 數(shù)據(jù)顯示，五分之一的母親生孩子時都已接近中年。 高齡產(chǎn)婦的人數(shù)迅速增多，去年由35歲以上的產(chǎn)婦所生的寶寶人數(shù)超過14萬，占英格蘭和威爾士所有新生兒的20%。 由于越來越多的女性推遲成家，35歲以上的產(chǎn)婦數(shù)量在十年內(nèi)增加了三分之一。 年近不惑同時又要養(yǎng)育小孩的爸爸也越來越多。最新統(tǒng)計顯示，三分之二的新爸爸年齡都超過了30歲。 英國國家統(tǒng)計局系統(tǒng)的數(shù)據(jù)分析使得人們對父母生育年齡增長的趨勢，及其對孩子的健康和成長的影響提出了一些新的質(zhì)疑。 醫(yī)學(xué)專家稱，超過35歲生孩子對產(chǎn)婦和寶寶都存在著較大的風(fēng)險，而且年齡較大的父母在孩子尚年幼時，健康出狀況的可能性更大。 高齡產(chǎn)婦的數(shù)量近幾年來迅速增加，一部分原因是越來越多的女性選擇接受教育和專注于事業(yè)，而不是早早結(jié)婚生子。還有一部分原因在于許多30多歲的女性背負著高額的房貸、債務(wù)和生活費用，迫使她們推遲生孩子。 伴侶間越來越多地選擇同居而非結(jié)婚，這一趨勢也意味著許多女性在不能確定伴侶的忠實程度時不愿意生小孩。 新的數(shù)據(jù)表明，去年，在英格蘭和威爾士，年齡在35歲以上的女性所生育的嬰兒達14.1萬，占兩地新生兒總數(shù)（70.6萬）的五分之一。 其中，近2.7萬嬰兒的母親年齡超過40歲，近1500個嬰兒的母親年齡超過45歲，還有89個嬰兒的母親年齡超過了50歲。而在1999年，只有15%的新生兒的母親年齡在35歲以上。 一直以來，高齡產(chǎn)婦們也經(jīng)常會聽到有關(guān)晚育風(fēng)險的警告。 今年早些時候，英國皇家婦產(chǎn)科學(xué)院院長薩巴拉特南?阿魯庫馬蘭教授曾說道：“晚育容易引起更多并發(fā)癥。而且這些日益增多的高齡產(chǎn)婦，也需要特殊的分娩護理。” 相關(guān)閱讀 67歲婦女人工授精產(chǎn)子 成為世界第一高齡產(chǎn)婦 （中國日報網(wǎng)英語點津 實習(xí)生強鳳華 編輯：陳丹妮） |
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Vocabulary: Obstetricians and Gynaecologists: 婦產(chǎn)科醫(yī)師 obstetric: of or relating to or used in or practicing obstetrics（產(chǎn)科的；產(chǎn)科學(xué)的；生產(chǎn)的） |
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