Resumo: It is well known that older mothers have a higher risk of chromosomal anomalies such as Down syndrome,1,2 but whether they are at excess risk of non-chromosomal congenital anomalies (NCA) is less clear. At the other end of the maternal age spectrum, teenage mothers have a low risk of chromosomal trisomy, but a higher risk of some NCA,3 in particular the abdominal wall defect gastroschisis. 4–6 Maternal age may be an indicator of intrinsic biologic factors and previous reproductive history (including parity) or extrinsic factors, such as education, nutritional accurate information on maternal age-specific risks of NCA to gauge the implications of this rise in maternal age for public health, for clinical care needs and for providing information to women of childbearing age. Some of the older literature on maternal age risks is difficult to interpret, since it is likely that chromosomal anomalies in babies with structural malformations were underdiagnosed, thus creating artefactually increased risks for older mothers of apparently non-chromosomal anomalies.7 Many studies have been too small to consider mothers over 40 specifically, or to provide precise estimates for specific types of NCA.
The persistent high rate of teenage pregnancy in some European populations is of continuing concern,8,9 especially its relationship with deprivation and unplanned pregnancy. 10,11 This group experiences poorer pregnancy outcomes overall12,13 due both to their unfavourable environment and biologic immaturity.14 There is little information from Europe on the overall risk of NCA in teenage mothers.
EUROCAT is a network of population-based congenital anomaly registers covering nearly one-third of births in Europe, with a standardised methodology. In this paper, we analyse the EUROCAT database to determine maternal age-specific risks of NCA.
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