Dear Doctor,

I am aged 35 and I have been married for 6 years. Sadly, I don’t have a baby yet. My friends say children who are born to elderly parents are less intelligent. Is this true or not? Please help because I am getting very anxious.

Dorah

Dear Dorah,

It was said back in the day that children born to elderly mothers would be less intelligent. This was based on the theory that with advancing age, due to aging of the egg, there is higher risk of the baby developing congenital abnormalities, such as Down’s syndrome and cerebral palsy. With advancing age, the risk for developing complications of pregnancy also increases. But now various observations and studies have shown it to be a myth. Not every child born to a mother over 30 years is a cretin. Due to various reasons, the risk exists in younger mothers as well.

Because of various socio-economic reasons, women around the world are opting for motherhood at a later age in life. Once the pregnancy is safely nurtured and a baby born, these babies are intelligent, less malnourished, they have lesser risk of childhood obesity as well and have fairly high IQ compared to their peers born to younger mothers. The reason being; these mothers are better prepared to face motherhood. Due to ‘old’ age, they have more maturity, hence more experience about life. They are calmer in handling their babies, have greater knowledge of healthy foods and how to inculcate good habits. The only drawback is they may not be able to run after the kids with as much energy as a younger mother.

Dr Rachna Pande  is a specialist in internal medicine at Ruhengeri Hospital