[Pregnancy and labor in women over 40 years of age].

During the 1970-1989 period, there were 23,915 deliveries of which 278 (1.16%) occurred in women 40 years of age or older. The latter included 62 (22.3%) primiparas, 158 (56.8%) pluriparas and 58 (20.9%) multiparas. The control group consisted of 14,400 women 20-34 years of age (50% primiparas and 50% pluriparas) from the same period. There was no antenatal visit in 9.4% of the women 40 years of age or older. This group included more housewives, more unmarried women and more women with previous spontaneous and induced abortions than the control group (P less than 0.05). Threatened abortion (16.2%), EPH gestosis (22.3%), impaired glucose tolerance (8.3%), gestational diabetes (7.2%), delivery before 37 weeks (11.5%), delivery after 42 weeks (3.6%), premature rupture of the membranes (18.3%), meconium-stained amniotic fluid (19.8%), elective caesarean section (11.5%), caesarean section delivery (16.5%), vacuum extraction (4.7%), placental lysis or uterine exploration (4.3%) were more frequent in the study than in the control group (P less than 0.05). There were more cases with episiotomy (P less than 0.001) in the control group, whereas there were no differences as regards cervical cerclage, weight gain above 14kg, breech presentation, transverse presentation and assisted breech delivery between the two groups (P greater than 0.05). There was no case of uterine rupture or maternal death either in the study or the control group. The authors conclude that a woman 40 years of age and older is in an advanced age for pregnancy and delivery.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)