Alleyn's Medical Society: Professor Bewley on Reproductive Ageing

Obstetrics deriving from the Latin 'to stand by' is a medical specialty that deals with pregnancy, childbirth and newborn care. Today, more than ever, the face of the specialty is changing with the introduction of radical new treatments such as IVF (in-vitro fertilization) surging in popularity and an increase in birth complications due to 'reproductive aging'.

Susan Bewley is a professor of complex obstetrics at King's College Hospital, throughout her career she has dealt with the full spectrum of 'tricky' births from emergency c-sections (a baby is delivered through an incision in a mother's abdomen) to eptopic pregnancy (where an embryo implants somewhere other than the womb). Today she came to talk to Alleyn's School Medical Society about the changing age of reproductivity among women, the consequences of delaying child-birth for later life and whether women should feel intimidated by such statistics and obliged to have children at younger ages for the sake of their own safety.

Addressing an impressive turnout of 30+ pupils and teachers Professor Bewley began by discussing the statistics behind pregnancy. A staggering 25% of pregnancies end in miscarriages, a fact she felt was concealed within everyday society by the very private and tragic nature of the ordeal; while some miscarriages are barely noticeable many are a traumatic experience for both a mother and her partner. Data demonstrates a correlation between birth complications and age as well as a decline in fertility throughout life, so why do women choose to give birth later? Perhaps it is our dependency on the miraculous nature of modern healthcare or the timeless nature of technologies, giving us the ability to 'freeze' our eggs for later life. But these technologies are misleading, whilst  eggs will remain healthy frozen outside a woman's body, the aging process that naturally occurs still creates a high risk factor for aging women who use cryogenically frozen eggs from earlier life to become pregnant in their 40s.

In addition Professor Bewley demonstrated her awe at the change she has seen within the profession within 30 years of working as an obstetric doctor. Today women unable to give birth can undergo IVF treatment where previously they would have just been turned away from clinics. There has been a gradual decline in infant mortality rates within the UK, yet Professor Bewley noted these figures are hardly reflected in countries with underdeveloped healthcare systems and a lack of support and facilities that we so often take for granted.

Even after presenting a series of slides addressing the issues of pregnancy in later life Professor Bewely noted that it is a women's decision and not the NHS's data that should be helping a woman decide when to have children. With more women in full-time careers than ever before we should appreciate that these decisions can be difficult to come to. Women's closing window of fertilization is just another unfair reality we face in today's society. 

-Izzie




IVF