Labor for most women is painful and exhausting. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that this is what your pregnancy has been leading up to and that you are going to meet your baby for the first time.

Labor is different for older women. Some of these differences are positive and wonderful. After the age of 35 you arc more likely to be better educated about what will happen during labor and more likely to have an extensive support network. Knowledge and support are power not only helping you participate more fully in health care decisions during labor, but ensuring that you have support for the decisions that your make. On the other hand, you may be more likely to enter labor with a medical complication where interventions such as electronic fetal monitoring are more likely, and you are at increased risk of having a cesarean delivery.

Coping With Labor

As a woman over 35 you may be well informed about the various options for coping with the pain of labor. For first time moms, it’s hard to imagine what labor will be like, and there’s a chance that you are more likely to get exhausted than when you were younger. Being informed of all the options for coping with the pain before you go in to labor from simple breathing techniques to epidural’s is really important. Information gathering is an important part of your preparations for labor, and you can incorporate your wishes in to a carefully considered birth plan.

Medical Intervention

First time mothers over the age of 35 are significantly more likely to have medical interventions during labor. These may range from electronic fetal monitoring to medications for speeding up of labor to cesarean delivery. The reasons for a higher cesarean rate in over 35s may be in part because more women are likely to have complications, such as previous surgery for fibroids or placenta previa (where the placenta blocks the cervical opening) that result in the need to avoid labor.

Being informed about possible interventions before labor and thinking about decisions you may have to make ahead of time will make you feel more in control.