Having a baby in your 30s means you'll live longer - research

Older mums rejoice! You may live longer if you have a baby in your thirties or later. Photo / Getty Images

By Michael Powell

It's become a highly contentious issue, with women who leave it later in life to start a family sometimes facing severe criticism.

But it seems there may be at least one big upside: a new scientific study has revealed that women who have babies in their 30s can go on to live for longer.

Researchers compared the life expectancies of older women with the age they were when they gave birth to their children.

They found women who had children later were more likely to live for longer than those who give birth in their teens and 20s.

Fertility experts warn that women should start trying for a child before they are in their 30s, otherwise they risk being unable to conceive because the quality and quantity of their eggs decline.

But the new study, published in the Journal Of Public Health, throws fresh light on the issue and says women who can conceive later in life are more likely to die later too. Its report said: "As the age of pregnancy increases, so does the life expectancy of the women at 65. In other words, the older the women are at birth, the longer they live.

"Women who give birth later tend to live longer, and the genes that allow for late pregnancy benefit female life span."

The study was conducted by researchers from the University of Coimbra in Portugal, who examined birth and life-expectancy data from all European Union nations, including the UK.

NHS specialists have previously warned Britain is facing a 'fertility time bomb' because women are having children at a much later age than in previous generations.

The average age for a woman to have her first child in the UK is now 30. A staggering one in 25 of all UK births is now to a mother over the age of 40. While it is unclear why women who have children later live for longer, some experts suggest that their personal background plays a big role.

Fertility expert Lord Winston said: "There are several reasons why this could be the case. Women who give birth later in life tend to be of a higher social standing and have a better income. They could find it easier to conceive later in life because of social circumstances, and it is well-known that people who have a higher level of education are usually in a higher income bracket and have greater longevity because they can afford to lead healthier lifestyles."

Raj Mathur, policy adviser for the British Fertility Society, said: 'It is interesting that, as women are having children later, they are also living longer. But we should be careful not to use this data to delay childbearing because women who try to have children in their 30s and 40s are more likely to struggle."

Another recent study, published in Menopause journal, reported that women who give birth later in life are three times more likely to have certain DNA markers of longer life. Scientists in America studied 400 women aged in their 70s, who were all older than 33 when they had their final child.

They measured the length of the women's telomeres, the caps that protect DNA strands. Shorter telomeres have been associated with a shorter lifespan. The researchers said women who were older when they gave birth to their last child were two to three times more likely to have longer telomeres than women who gave birth to their last child aged 29 and under.