High Risk Pregnancy

A 65-year-old Berlin school teacher, and soon-to-be mother of quadruplets, has defended her decision to have more children. Doctors have warned of the risks to her and the four babies.

Annegret Raunigk is expected to give birth to quadruplets within the next two months. Already a mother of 13, with five fathers, Raunigk said she decided to get pregnant because her 9-year-old daughter wanted a younger sibling.

"Any pregnancy of a woman over age 45 has to be considered a high-risk pregnancy; over 60 this is naturally extreme," said Dr. Holger Stepan, head of obstetrics at the University of Leipzig. "The 65-year-old body is definitely not designed to carry a pregnancy, not of one child and certainly not of quadruplets."

Raunigk made headlines 10 years ago when she gave birth to her 13th child, Lelia, at the age of 55.

In Nigeria, pregnant women over 35 are considered high risk pregnancies because of the associated complications. Women over 35 are more prone to developing gestational diabetes and hypertension in pregnancy. They also have higher chances of miscarriages; delivering babies with genetic abnormalities (e.g Down syndrome) and undergoing operational delivery with its attendant side-effects.

It remains best to have your kids before 35 if you can.