Maternal age over 40 years and pregnancy outcome: a hospital-based survey

AbstractObjective: Increased risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes with advancing maternal age has been described but the strength of association remains debated, particularly in presence of confounding factors such as parity, twin pregnancy and pregnancy from assisted reproductive technologies. The aim of this study was to evaluate pregnancy outcomes in a large cohort of women aged over 40 years. The hypothesis was that advanced maternal age may be an independent risk factor for adverse pregnancy outcome.Study design: We reviewed the clinical records of 56,211 women who delivered at Sant’Anna University Hospital, Turin, Italy, in the period between 2009 and 2015. Of these, 3798 women aged over 40 years were divided into two age groups (40 − 44 years and ≥45 years). Women of any parity, with singleton or twin pregnancies, or with assisted reproductive technology pregnancies were included. Women aged less than 40 years were considered as controls. Primary outcome measures were maternal and perinatal complica...