First time mothers getting older

Newborn baby.Photo: Lise Åserud / SCANPIX (FRB)

New figures from the Medical Birth Register from the National Institute of Public Health show that the average age of giving birth for the first time is 29 years, six years older than 50 years ago. Oslo’s first time mothers are the oldest, showing an average of 31.1 years.

 

While the average age of first time mothers was 23.1 years in 1967, when registration began, it increased to 29 years last year. This is mainly due to fewer births below 25 year old mothers, and an increase in the percentage who are between 25 and 34 years.

The percentage of 40 year old first time mothers has more than tripled during the same period. The figures show that in 1967, 0.6% were over 40, and 2% in 2016.

Nord-Trøndelag has the youngest first time mothers, with an average age of 26.8 years, followed by Finnmark and Nordland (27.3 years), Telemark (27.8 years), and Hedmark (27.9 years).

Oslo (31.1 years), Akershus (29.6 years) and Buskerud (29.1) had, on average, the oldest first time mothers.

 

©  NTB Scanpix / Norway Today