Maternal age matters: for a lifetime, or longer
Open accessAbstract
Pregnancies in adolescents (10–19-year-olds) and in older women (≥35 years) are hazardous for the mother and the child. Despite an almost universal decline in the adolescent birth rate since 1990,1 adolescent fertility still accounts for 11% of all births worldwide,2 with 95% of these births occurring in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs).2 In 2014, the average global birth rate among 15–19-year-olds was 49 per 1000 girls (1 in 20), with startling differences in rates between countries (from 1 to 299 per 1000), the highest rates occurring in sub-Saharan Africa.
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In several high-income countries, births among adolescents aged 10-19 have notably decreased, while a shift towards higher maternal ages is emerging.
“In several high-income countries, there has been a notable decrease in the number of births among adolescents aged 10 to 19 years. Conversely, a notable shift towards higher maternal ages is emerging [5].”
From Age-related disparities in national maternal mortality trends: A population-based study (2025) · cites this paper as [5]
Cites
Fall, C. H. D., Sachdev, H. S., Osmond, C., Restrepo-Mendez, M. C., Victora, C., Martorell, R., Stein, A. D., Sinha, S., Tandon, N., Adair, L., et al. (2015) · The Lancet Global Health · doi:10.1016/s2214-109x(15)00038-8 · Cited by 481 · see citing works
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Age-related disparities in national maternal mortality trends: A population-based study
Huang, R. S., Spence, A. R., & Abenhaim, H. A. (2025) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0316578 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
- Authors
- Saloojee, H., & Coovadia, H.
- Affiliations
- University of the Witwatersrand (ZA)
- Corresponding author
- Coovadia, Hoosen
- ORCID
- Saloojee, Haroon
- Venue
- The Lancet Global Health
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2015-07
- Volume
- 3
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- e342-e343
- ISSN
- 2214-109X (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1843079484
- Cited by
- 59
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 24 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 3
- FWCI
- 2.86
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- The Lancet Global Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Reproductive Health and Contraception
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Obstetrics and Gynecology › Maternal and Perinatal Health Interventions
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Global Maternal and Child Health
- Keywords
- maternal age, adolescent pregnancy, advanced maternal age, adolescent fertility, low- and middle-income countries, sub-Saharan Africa, maternal and child health, birth rate
- MeSH terms
- Birth Weight, Developing Countries, Educational Status, Female, Growth Disorders, Humans, Male, Maternal Age, Pregnancy, Premature Birth
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