The answer for every woman is different, but three NiaOnline members who have been grappling with this issue wanted to know whether specific rumors they'd heard about the health effects of delayed childbearing were true. We answer those questions here.

Q: I heard that waiting to have kids increases your chance of fibroids. True?

A: "No. Absolutely not," says New York gynecologist Stanley West, M.D., author of The Hysterectomy Hoax: The Truth About Why Many Hysterectomies Are Unnecessary and How to Avoid Them (Next Decade; $19.95). But it is true that "the older you are, the more likely you are to have [a] fibroid," a noncancerous tumor in or on the uterus, Dr. West adds.

Depending on where the fibroid is located, it can cause you to miscarry. "There's a very specific type of fibroid that will produce a miscarriage--one located in or near the uterine cavity," the interior of the uterus, Dr. West says. "No matter how big or small, [this type of fibroid] will produce a miscarriage." If a fibroid located in the uterine wall bulges into the uterine cavity, "there's no way you're going to sustain a pregnancy." Remove the fibroid, says Dr. West, and pregnancy is usually possible.

Q: Does delaying pregnancy or not having babies at all give you osteoporosis?

A: Recent research has found that women who have never given birth are at a 44 percent greater risk than women who have given birth of developing a hip fracture when they get older. Investigators learned that each birth reduces a woman's risk of hip fracture by 9 percent.

Investigators were surprised to learn that the study participants' risk of fracturing their hips had nothing to do with their bone-mineral density, which is what doctors currently measure to assess a woman's risk of bone fractures.

"What we know is that having children reduces women's risk of hip fractures," says lead author Teresa Hillier, M.D. "What we don't know is why. One possibility is that the changes in hip and pelvic alignment that take place during pregnancy and childbirth could permanently alter hip and bone structure and protect women from future hip fractures."

Q: Does having babies later on in life make you more likely to get breast cancer?

A: Unfortunately, medical experts don't know what causes breast cancer. The risk factors include being female, getting older, having a family history of breast cancer, being White (White women are more likely to get it; Black women more likely to die of it), having had a previous abnormal biopsy, or having had earlier radiation treatment to check for tuberculosis or to treat other diseases to the chest. (Note: These types of radiation treatments are not the same as mammograms.)

Many women with more than one risk factor, however, don't get breast cancer at all, and most women who develop the disease don't have any risk factors, according to the American Cancer Society. Go here or here for more information about risk factors.

Researchers are also discovering that women who are exposed to estrogen longer during their lifetimes do have a slightly higher risk of breast cancer. The following factors can increase your overall exposure to estrogen and, therefore, somewhat up your risk of breast cancer:

• Beginning your period before age 12;
  
• Going through menopause after age 55;
  
• Never bearing children;
  
• Having children after age 30;
  
• Using birth-control pills (the risk subsides 10 years after you stop taking them);
  
• Being on long-term hormone replacement therapy that combines estrogen with progesterone to relieve menopausal symptoms.

On the other hand, women who have their first baby before age 30 seem to get breast cancer less often, as do women who have more children. In addition, breast-feeding for one and a half to two years may slightly lower a woman's breast-cancer risk--perhaps because women who are pregnant or breast-feeding don't ovulate.

Finally, lifestyle factors such as being overweight, consuming one or more drinks daily, and being regularly exposed to secondhand smoke can increase your chances of developing breast cancer.

Note: Mommies-to-be over the age of 35 may be at higher risk for health conditions other than those discussed here--a lot depends on your own general health and the prenatal care you receive. For more information about pregnancy after 35, check out this WebMD article and this one from the March of Dimes. The federal government also has a site that links you to publications and other Web resources that provide information about pregnancy after 35.

Have you heard a health rumor that you'd like us to check out? Tell us in the comments section below.

Hilary Beard is a Philadelphia-based writer

Published on: 01/31/2006







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