Elderly & pregnant?
Another label that needs to be retired
So, you’re pregnant! Hopeful and healthy, maybe even a little anxious, you are in the exam room with your provider and ready to embark on the journey to parenthood. Suddenly, you hear words you didn’t think you’d hear until much later in life— like decades later.
“Elderly primigravida / multigravida”*
“Geriatric pregnancy”*
Ugh. While growing older is a privilege not afforded to all, let’s talk about why it’s not ok to label women and pregnant people in this way.
Sexism and ageism. Yes, it is sexist and ageist to place a label based on an arbitrary age limit. Women are always pressed to maintain youth. From hair dye to breast augmentation to skin resurfacing, the road to improvement rather than confident acceptance is paved by sexism and ageism. Society is clear that older women have all but lost their value as youth is flaunted as consistent with ability.
Pregnant too young?— taboo
Pregnant too old?— geriatric
Pregnant unplanned?— an oops
These deeply flawed views on women are all associated and harmful not only to them but to the generation they carry forth.
While some risk accompanies pregnancy for those over 35 (see this link for more information), what is the benefit to listing age— which is always clearly posted at the beginning of any chart— as a separate label of pregnancy? Even the somewhat less offensive ‘advanced maternal age’ lends itself as the nicer of the Mean Girls. Could some of our diagnoses and labels amount to self-fulfilling prophecies? If we feed in positive, won’t we reap more positive outcomes? We already know this to be true.
Women of all ages must be supported as the wise, strong, able bodies they are. Risk can largely be mitigated with education, prevention, and preparation. Harm from inaccurate and harmful labels cannot. In this time of learning and growing toward the trauma-informed care model, we must do better.
What are your thoughts?
*Definitions: primigravida = first pregnancy
multigravida = subsequent pregnancy
