Objective
The objective of the investigation was to study the association of fetal death with
maternal age by length of gestation.
Study Design
This was a population study including all ongoing pregnancies after 16 weeks of gestation
in Norway during the period 1967-2006 (n = 2,182,756).
Results
The risk of fetal death was 1.4 times higher in women 40-44 years old than in women
aged 20-24 years in midpregnancy but 2.8 times higher at term. In term pregnancies
the relative importance of maternal age increased by additional pregnancy weeks. In
gestational weeks 42-43, the crude risk was 5.1 times higher in mothers 40 years old
or older. In the recent period, the elevated risk of fetal death in elderly mothers
at term has been attenuated.
Conclusion
Women 40 years old or older had the highest risk of fetal death throughout pregnancy,
particularly in term and postterm pregnancies. Improved obstetric care may explain
the attenuation of risk associated with age in recent time.
Key words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: August 30, 2010
Accepted:
July 12,
2010
Received in revised form:
April 29,
2010
Received:
February 16,
2010
Footnotes
This study was supported in part by Akershus University Hospital, Lørenskog, Norway.
Cite this article as: Haavaldsen C, Sarfraz AA, Samuelsen SO, et al. The impact of maternal age on fetal death: does length of gestation matter? Am J Obstet Gynecol 2010;203:554.e1-8.
Identification
Copyright
© 2010 Mosby, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
