The ethics surrounding older mothers

In May 2015 a 65-year-old German single mother of 13, Annegret Raunigk, gave birth to quads. One might have thought that this qualified Ms Raunigk as the world's oldest mother, but a BBC News report (2015) not only explained that Maria del Carmen Bousada Lara had borne twins in 2006 at the age of 66 years, it also noted: ‘some reports dispute this, saying the actual record holder is Omkari Panwar, who is believed to have been 70 when she gave birth to twins in India in 2008.’

Leaving aside who the record books will favour, a more substantive issue is the question of whether it is right for a woman who is outside the accepted norms of what constitutes a female's reproductive age range to have a child?

One might object that such considerations are beyond the practice and purview of midwifery. But Church and Ekberg (2013: 896) are adamant that ‘[a] discussion of ethics in relation to education is … important within the midwifery profession to promote the development of professional practice and the care provided for women and their families.’ When they investigated the attitudes of student midwives towards issues raised by different ethically challenging scenarios, their findings suggested that this group was resistant to the use of assisted reproductive technology (ART) for post-menopausal women: ‘For example, even though the use of ART enables some women to become mothers, the discussions support the notion of non-maleficance “to do no harm”, or where ART was considered risky for the mother and problematic for the child.’ (Church and Ekberg, 2013: 900).