Age Does Not Make Your Pregnancy High Risk

We should not compare our labor and birth to that of other women. We can source for inspiration, however, we should not source in an attempt to polarize ourselves into a state of “less than”. 

Comparison only causes suffering. 

The conventional medical community, ACOG, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology like to tell women older than 34 years, that they have a “geriatric pregnancy” and are “high risk”. 

ACOG says, “Eggs in older women are more likely to have abnormal chromosomes. And as women age, they are potentially at higher risk of disorders that can affect fertility, such as uterine fibroids and endometriosis… and perhaps older women have pre-existing conditions”.  

When I read this, there is no actual risk here that would merit a highly medicalized hospital birth, or frequent ultrasounds and regular visits to a high risk fetal specialist. What I do see when I read this are a lot of synonyms for “Maybe”

Capacity to birth, has nothing to do with age. Read on. 

So many women I speak with tell me they cannot home birth because they are 36 years old and high risk. I ask them what their medical condition is? They say, “…my age…?”. 

Ladies, you are a cash cow for conventional medicine. Every lie you believe and every pain point compounded is more money in pharma’s pocket. This is the macro version of an abusive relationship. Find a fear and if you stay with me I promise you the solution… people in fear are easy to control… as a pregnant woman you are reshaped until the original version of you is hidden somewhere deep in the recesses. The little girl with hopes and dreams hiding. You wake up one day postpartum wondering why you are depressed, and angry. It’s because you allowed abuse throughout your pregnancy and birth. Waking up is painful. 

I once worked with a 19 year old who had neither the physical endurance, nor the mental/emotional capacity to surrender to her birth. She was quite cavalier, wanted to home birth cause “how hard can it be”. Didn’t take a birth class, didn’t feel the need to look within or examine the reality of her emotional world. We transferred to the hospital, she got an epidural, checked out and felt so much trauma from her time at the hospital. 

I once worked with a 43year old woman who free-birthed her baby at home, (no midwife). No checks the whole pregnancy and no medical assistance postpartum. She and the baby were and are perfectly healthy. The difference here is not age. The difference is a matter of integration, autonomy, preparation, the relationship to one’s body, nutrition, and the degree to which fear runs your program. 

Age is not a risk factor. 

Warmly,

Eyla