Dr. Irena Milentijevic

The Mind-Boosting Benefits of Motherhood

How Motherhood Can Improve Your Mental Skills, Intelligence,

and Preparedness for the Working World

If you have a baby or small children, you may often feel like you have permanently lost your mind, leaving it behind with your pre-baby self.  You may feel forgetful, scattered and like you are barely able to manage mundane activities such as changing diapers, washing baby bottles, and doing laundry.  You may sometimes feel like your brain has turned to “mush.”  Because you do not feel mentally simulated, you may start doubting yourself, causing your self esteem to plummet.

If you cannot remember to turn on the oven or get milk for your kids, you may wonder how you will ever be able go back to work and manage complex tasks.  When this happens, it is easy to feel that you have lost your “smarts;” be insecure about going back to work; and wonder what you will do when your baby gets older.

Do Children of Older Parents Suffer?

The Hardships and Rewards of Children Born to Older Parents

Increasingly more children are being born to parents in their forties.  In my previous article, I addressed the advantages and disadvantages of having children in your 40s.  (In case you missed it, you can click here to read it).This article will focus on the experiences of children who have older parents.  For many of these children, the emotional texture of their childhoods and their experiences in early adulthood are quite different from those of their peers whose parents are younger.

ARE YOU TOO OLD TO BE A MOM?

 The hardships and rewards of having a baby in your 40s

The age of first-time moms in the Western World is increasing.  More and more, women delay motherhood, voluntarily as they spend time on their education and carriers, or involuntarily because they do not have a partner or because of infertility problems.  In the last decade, the number of women giving birth after the age of 35 and 40 has tripled and quadrupled, respectively.  The advances and accessibility of reproductive technologies are partly accountable for this sharp rise in older mothers.

Even though motherhood is as old as the human species, we are breaking new ground socially and personally with first time mothers in their mid to late forties.

If you are wondering whether you are too old to have a baby here are some pros and cons that may help you in making your decision: