Delayed childbearing in Sweden

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Abstract
Data from the Swedish Medical Birth Registry was used to examine whether reproductive history influenced pregnancy outcomes among women aged 30-39 yr who gave birth to a 1st or 2nd child. They were classified group 1, primigravida; group 2, gravida 2, para 0; and group 3, gravida 2, para 1. Compared with women aged 20-24 yr with the same parity and gravidity, the relative risk (RR) of late fetal deaths was significantly greater among those aged 35-39 yr (RR: group 1 = 1.76, group 2 = 2.22 and group 3 = 2.39). The risk of giving birth to newborns who were low birth weight and preterm, or low birth weight at term, or 2500 g or greater but preterm was greater among women aged 30-39 yr in groups 1 and 2, significantly so for group 1 aged 30-39 yr vs. group 1 aged 20-24 yr. Risk increased with maternal age, from 30-34 to 35-39 yr. The increased risk with age and parity-gravidity has ramifications for the increasing rate of delayed childbearing.