May 3, 2014
Down’s syndrome and maternal age
Maternal age is the main risk factor for having a baby with Down’s syndrome.
Down Syndrome describes a set of physical characteristics that arise when an individual has a full or partial extra copy of chromosome 21 .
Statistics received from the Jamaica Down’s Syndrome Foundation indicate that if a mother is 20 years old, her risk of having a baby with Down’s syndrome is 1 in 1,667. However, if the mother is 35 years old, the risk of having a child with Down’s syndrome increases to 1 in 365 and increases still, to 1 in 30, if the mother is 40 years old.
