Women are waiting until they are older to have children as they focus on careers and education.
This means it is more likely there will be complications, leading to more stress and strain on the midwifery workforce.
The
latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that women born in 1980 had fewer children on average (1.03) by their 30th birthday than women born in 1965, who had 1.18 children by the same age.
The figures do not include women over 45 years old, as the report states that, for statistical purposes, they are considered to have finished their childbearing years.
But the recent
State of Maternity Services report revealed that births among women over 40 years old have rocketed over the past decade.
Louise Silverton, RCM deputy general secretary, said: ‘This data shows that the age profile of pregnant women is getting older.
‘Previous data has shown that between 2001 and 2010 the number of births to women aged 40 or over rose by 71%.
‘This ageing of mothers means greater demands on maternity services as pregnancies to older women can give rise to complications and a need for (medical) interventions, which demands more of midwives and others in the maternity team.
‘As the number of births is now at a historic high, this, together with the increasing social complexity of care needs for all mothers, has a multiplying effect on the workload heaped on already overstretched midwives.’
The ONS also reveals that of all women born in 1965, who were aged 45 in 2010, the average family size was 1.91 children per woman, down from 2.39 for those born in 1938.
Analysts at the ONS said this is down to education and the option of well-paid careers to millions who in the past would have been housewives.
They said that the reasons for women going childless included ‘increased participation in higher education, delayed marriage and partnership formation, and the desire to establish a career, get on the housing ladder and ensure financial stability before starting a family’.
