OLDEST
MOTHER WHO I HAVE EVER DELIVERED
AGE 55; IT WAS A GREAT JOY
Sumitra came to the outpatient department of obstetrics very quietly thinking she may be pregnant. She said she can feel something moving in her belly. She had had no periods for ten years; she was now 54 years of age. This was in 1960 when I was still a junior doctor. She had 3 grown up daughters and 4 grand children. She had no sons. She was mildly obese weighing 70 kilos. Her blood pressure was normal, she had no medical problems. On my clinical examination she was surely pregnant, I could hear the foetal heart .Of course there were no ultrasounds or genetic tests. I informed my professor about her. The only important thing about her was that she was the wife of a Member of Parliament. Her pregnancy progressed like a dream and she had an easy normal vaginal birth of a male healthy baby weighing 3 kilos. There was joy all round as they had no sons. Even I got a lovely sari as a present. It was a great joy for me as well. Many cases of spontaneous births have been reported after menopause, one in 1899 and then one in 1960. Both these women were 50 years of age. In recent times many older women have given birth through I.V .F technology. Latest birth is reported from India to a 70 year woman using donor egg, and using her 72 year old husband’s sperm in 2008. How old is too old to have a baby. Who will look after this baby?
AGE 55; IT WAS A GREAT JOY
Sumitra came to the outpatient department of obstetrics very quietly thinking she may be pregnant. She said she can feel something moving in her belly. She had had no periods for ten years; she was now 54 years of age. This was in 1960 when I was still a junior doctor. She had 3 grown up daughters and 4 grand children. She had no sons. She was mildly obese weighing 70 kilos. Her blood pressure was normal, she had no medical problems. On my clinical examination she was surely pregnant, I could hear the foetal heart .Of course there were no ultrasounds or genetic tests. I informed my professor about her. The only important thing about her was that she was the wife of a Member of Parliament. Her pregnancy progressed like a dream and she had an easy normal vaginal birth of a male healthy baby weighing 3 kilos. There was joy all round as they had no sons. Even I got a lovely sari as a present. It was a great joy for me as well. Many cases of spontaneous births have been reported after menopause, one in 1899 and then one in 1960. Both these women were 50 years of age. In recent times many older women have given birth through I.V .F technology. Latest birth is reported from India to a 70 year woman using donor egg, and using her 72 year old husband’s sperm in 2008. How old is too old to have a baby. Who will look after this baby?
No comments:
Post a Comment