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Women in Their 50s Are Good Mothers

A new study conducted by researchers at the University of Southern California claims that women in their fifties are good mothers that easily face the stress of looking after their babies.

The American researchers said that women in their fifties and sixties are responsible and capable mothers who face no difficulties in raising their children. The experts suggested that older mothers are as stressed as women giving birth in their thirties.

The Californian Researchers examined 150 women who conceived babies after fertility treatments at the Women and Children's hospital in Los Angeles. The study focused on women giving birth between 1992 and 2004.

Participants at the study were asked several questions including some related to problems faced when raising children or mental state after birth.

"The subjects were given surveys to determine their physical and mental functioning and parental stress. Overall the researchers found that the women in their 50s did not have reduced parental capacity or higher stress levels than the younger women," revealed scientists at the University of Southern California.

The recent study indicates that there might be no reason for banning in-vitro fertilization to older women. Although there is no law that stops older women from having children through IVF treatments, most medical clinics refuse inseminating women over 45.

The NHS treatment is available only to women who haven't turned 40.

Although this study shows that women in their fifties are good parents for babies there are some who think it would be very hard for these women to educate teenagers.

"The problem I have is not what happens to mothers at 50 to 55. What worries me is what happens when their children are 18 and they are in their 70s and 80s. I am not in favor of banning things, but I am concerned for the welfare of a child whose parents are as old as its peers' grandparents," explained Bill Ledger at the University of Sheffield.

The world's oldest mother is a Romanian, Adriana Iliescu, who gave birth to twins in 2005. Only one of her two daughters survived.