Pregnancy after 35: a systematic reviewof the literature

Late pregnancy requires more attention fromhealth professionals, once theremay be more risks involving thewoman,the fetus and the newborn babies. There is a lack of studies on the subject, as well as reports and conflicting data insome studies, justifying the proposal to draw up a bibliography of articles available in databases on pregnancy after35, between the years 1990-2008. We selected 74 articles considering type of study, focus, research subjects, type ofpublication, approach, origin and language of publication. The majority of the articles come from PUBMED (91.9%),published in English (90.5%), from 2003 (47.3%), in the form of abstracts (74.3%), experiments (82.4 %), quantitative(83.8%), of international origin (95.9%), addressing the woman as a subject of research (53.9%). It is evident that theevent of late pregnancy is a reality on the rise in the world and there is a growing interest in the subject, but the focus isprimarily biological (58.9%). In this specific series, there isnoconsensus regarding the“maternal age”inthe developmentof a high risk pregnancy; pregnancy at any age can be accompanied by unfavorable conditions for both woman andthe fetus, depending on health conditions and any context involving the conception and its outcome. There is needfor more comprehensive studies, considering the social, family and cultural environment, to provide quality care to thewomen and the family, and also prepare the health services to give proper support to this “new public”.