Science Discovers a Plus to Getting Pregnant Later In Life
Those of you for waiting to have kids later in life, take heed: There's some new (scientific!) info you can throw back in the faces of anyone who (wrongfully) shames you for waiting.
Getting pregnant after 35 could actually improve your memory, according to a recent study published in the Journal of American Geriatrics Society.
The researchers administered a series of questions to 830 menopausal women about various events in their lives that had to do with reproduction and their sexual health - like when they got their first period, when they went on hormonal birth control and for how long, and when they got pregnant - while also testing them for verbal memory, global cognition, and executive functioning skills.
The researchers found a few key things: Women who got pregnant after they were 35 had a more positive association with verbal memory - meaning, they were better at recalling anything pertaining to remembering words. Women who got their period later than 13 were "inversely associated" with having strong global cognition, or were better with general brain skills like reasoning and thinking. Another fun fact? Those who had been using hormonal contraception for more than 10 years also tested high for verbal memory and executive function (thumbs up for birth control).
But don't go running through the streets shouting through the streets "WAIT TO GET PREGNANT!" yet. "While it is not enough to suggest that women wait until after 35 years of age to close their family growth, our finding of a positive effect of later age at last pregnancy on late-life cognition is novel and substantial," lead study author Dr. Roksana Karim said in a press release. "More research is warranted to evaluate the underlying mechanism of this phenomenon and also to understand the role of age at first pregnancy in this phenomenon."
While your fertility shouldn't feel like a time bomb inside your body, it can be harder to get pregnant as you get older, so always be sure to talk to your doctor about what's best for you and your body.
(h/t PopSugar)
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