When a couple starts planning to have a baby, the mother-to-be’s age usually become a factor that needs to be considered. However, recent research conducted by Stanford University School of Medicine showed that the father's age is also a factor that may determine the baby’s health. In the research, it was discovered that the child that is born with a father aged 35 years old or above has the risk of born with low weight, born prematurely, and even may need treatment in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
The data used in the research was the data of 40.5 million childbirth from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Center for Health Statistics, the researchers divided the data based on the father's age which divided to four groups; 25 years old, 25-34 years old, 45-55 years old, and 55 years old and above. Other parameters such as race, education level, and history of smoking were also considered.
The results showed that the risks of the conditions mentioned earlier to occur would be bigger on babies with a father aged 35 years old and above. This is due to the increase of the mutation of their sperm as they get older.
Compared to the 25-34 years old group, a baby with a father aged 45 years old and above has 14% higher risk of requiring NICU treatment, born prematurely, and born with low weight. Also, the baby has 18% bigger risk of experiencing seizure after he/she was born. The risk will be bigger if the father is 50 years old or older.
Moreover, the researchers explained that these results may be used as a consideration when starting a family.
Text by Anggie Triana
Stock photos from Pixabay
Source(s):
- Khandwala, Y. S., Baker, V. L., Eisenberg, M. L. (2018). Association of paternal age with perinatal outcomes between 2007 and 2016 in the United States: population based cohort study. British Medical Journal, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.k4372.
- Older fathers associated with increased birth risk (2018). http://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2018/10/older-fathers-associated-with-increased-birth-risks.html, 12 November 2018.