Maternal Age

Advanced maternal age (AMA) refers to a pregnancy in which the anticipated delivery age is 35 years or older. Age 40 or older is a distinct higher-risk band for several US management decisions. AMA is a risk modifier, not a diagnosis: a healthy 36-year-old and a 42-year-old with chronic hypertension do not have the same individual risk profile. Two processes explain much of the association. Aging oocytes are more vulnerable to meiotic nondisjunction and fetal aneuploidy, while cumulative vascular and metabolic aging can impair placentation and increase hypertensive disease, fetal growth restriction, placental complications, and stillbirth. Nursing assessment therefore connects the patient's age with comorbidities, pregnancy history, fetal findings, and gestational age rather than treating 35 as an automatic intervention threshold.