Chinese woman, 67, may be the world’s oldest natural mother after delivering a healthy girl

A 67-year-old woman has reportedly given birth in China with her and her partner claiming they are the country’s oldest couple to conceive a baby naturally.

The pensioner, surnamed Tian, delivered a healthy girl by Caesarean section on Friday, Zaozhuang city’s Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital confirmed today.

‘The child was bestowed on the two of us by heaven,’ Tian’s 68-year-old husband, surnamed Huang, told Chinese news site guancha.cn. 

If Tian’s claim proves to be true, she could be the world’s oldest woman to deliver a child after conceiving naturally, beating the last record holder by nearly 10 years in age.

The pensioner, surnamed Tian (pictured above) delivered a healthy girl by Caesarean section on Friday

A midwife hands Huang, 68, his newborn daughter in Zaozhuang city's Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, China. Huang's wife claims she conceived naturally at the age of 67

A midwife hands Huang, 68, his newborn daughter in Zaozhuang city’s Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, China. Huang’s wife claims she conceived naturally at the age of 67

Tian’s daughter reportedly weighed 2,560 grams (5.6 pounds) at birth. 

Tian told Jinan Times that she only discovered that she was pregnant when she went to the hospital for a health check, telling the newspaper: ‘I didn’t want it, initially.’

The hospital said it could not confirm that Tian had conceived naturally as she was already pregnant when it took her as a patient.

The Global Times reported the new baby girl was called ‘Tianci’, meaning ‘gift from heaven’.

Tian is seen being pushed out of the operating theatre after giving birth to a 5.6lb healthy girl on Friday. She may be the world's oldest natural mother if her claim proves to be true

Tian is seen being pushed out of the operating theatre after giving birth to a 5.6lb healthy girl on Friday. She may be the world’s oldest natural mother if her claim proves to be true

Huang (right) checks on his wife Tian after she delivered their third child at the age of 67

Huang (right) checks on his wife Tian after she delivered their third child at the age of 67

Huang, a proud father, holds up a commemorative birth certificate gifted by the hospital

Huang, a proud father, holds up a commemorative birth certificate gifted by the hospital

Chinese newspaper Jinan Times said Tian already had two children, including a son born in 1977, two years before China imposed a one-child policy to control its burgeoning population.  

Currently, the world’s oldest natural mother is retired civil servant Dawn Brooke from Guernsey, who fell pregnant at the age of 58. She initially feared that her aches, cravings and exhaustion were signs of cancer. Mrs Brooke gave birth to a son by C-section in 1997. 

The world’s oldest mother is thought to be 74-year-old Erramatti Mangayamma from India, who last month gave birth to a pair of twin girls after undergoing IVF.   

Dawn Brooke (pictured), from Guernsey, is currently the world's oldest woman to have given birth after conceiving naturally at the age of 58. She delivered her son via a C-section

Dawn Brooke (pictured), from Guernsey, is currently the world’s oldest woman to have given birth after conceiving naturally at the age of 58. She delivered her son via a C-section

Erramatti Mangayamma from India, reportedly gave birth to two healthy baby girls on September 5. She is seen with her husband of 57 years, Raja Rao, 82, in the picture above

Erramatti Mangayamma from India, reportedly gave birth to two healthy baby girls on September 5. She is seen with her husband of 57 years, Raja Rao, 82, in the picture above

The babies (pictured on September 5 at the Ahalya IVF clinic in Guntur city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh) were conceived during 74-year-old Mangayamma's first round of IVF

The babies (pictured on September 5 at the Ahalya IVF clinic in Guntur city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh) were conceived during 74-year-old Mangayamma’s first round of IVF

WHAT ARE THE HEALTH RISKS OF A LATE PREGNANCY? 

  • Greater difficulty in initially conceiving a child, with the personal and psychological difficulties that this can cause.
  • Increased risk of complications for both mother and infant during pregnancy and delivery (although the actual size of the risk may be small).
  • Greater risk of general maternal health problems, such as high blood pressure, which can contribute to complications.
  • Higher risk of miscarriage in women above the age of 35.
  • Higher risk of having twins or triplets, which is itself associated with higher risk of complications.
  • Increased chance of having a baby with a congenital abnormality, such as Down’s syndrome.
  • Increased risk of pre-eclampsia.
  • Increased risk of complications during delivery, such as prolonged labour, need for assisted delivery or Caesarean section, or stillbirth.

Source: NHS 

The number of women getting pregnant over the age of 40 is almost double what it was 20 years ago, according to new figures.

Nearly 29,000 middle-aged women in England and Wales had children in 2017. In contrast, the figure was just 14,739 in 1997. 

Figures show overall the number of pregnancies are falling – but older women are the only age group that is bucking the trend.

Reports of the birth in China have drew criticism on the country’s Twitter-like platform Weibo.

‘The parents are too selfish,’ one person wrote. ‘At their advanced age they have no ability to take care of a kid, and the pressure will be on the older siblings.’

‘Poor child, she’s going to start taking care of her elderly parents by the time she’s 20,’ wrote another.

Others wondered if Tian and Huang would be penalised for having more than the current allowance of two children.

In 2016, Beijing relaxed the one-child policy, allowing families to have two.

While Tian’s age makes her an outlier, women in China are increasingly delaying childbirth or choosing not to have children after decades of strict family planning policies that have made small families the norm.

The number of women having children is increasing fastest among those aged over 40, while it's dropping in teenagers and women in their 20s (source: Office for National Statistics)

The number of women having children is increasing fastest among those aged over 40, while it’s dropping in teenagers and women in their 20s (source: Office for National Statistics)

The age at which the average Chinese woman has her first child rose from 24.3 years in 2006 to 26.9 years in 2016, according to a report this year by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

While the two-child policy has had a smaller effect on China’s birth count than expected, it has prompted more older women to consider having second children.

Around 51 per cent of newborns in 2017 were second children, compared to around 40 per cent in 2016, the Economist Intelligence Unit report said.

Why did China have a one-child policy?

For nearly 40 years, each Chinese couple was only allowed to have one baby due to the country's strict one-child policy (file photo)

For nearly 40 years, each Chinese couple was only allowed to have one baby due to the country’s strict one-child policy (file photo)

In the 1950s Mao Zedong, the first Chairman of People’s Republic of China, believed in the phrase ‘there is strength in numbers’.

The leader encouraged post-war Chinese women to give birth as much as possible. He awarded those who had more than five children the shining title of a ‘glorious mother’.

As a result, between 1950 and 1960, approximately 200 million people were born in China, more than a third of the nation’s population in its founding year 1949 (542 million).

In order to control the quickly expanding population, the State Council of China unveiled a family-planning guideline in 1973, encouraging couples to have a maximum of two children, with a four-year gap in between.

A decade later, a mandatory one-child policy was launched with the aim of keeping the Chinese population under 1.2 billion at the end of the 20th century.

The controversial policy was strictly enforced in urban areas.

If a woman was pregnant with her second child, she would be asked to abort it. 

If the couple decided to keep it, a fine would be applied – usually three times the family’s annual income.

Selective demographics in the country, such as rural residents and minority groups were not bound by the policy. 

On January 1, 2014, the Chinese authorities launched a so-called ‘selective two-child policy’, which allowed couples to have a second baby as long as either of them is a single child.

China officially started its so-called ‘universal two-child policy’ on January 1, 2016. 

Chinese family-planning authorities predict that an extra three million babies would be born annually between 2016 and 2021 due to the shift of the policy.

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