At the grand ‘old’ age of 36 and being pregnant with baby number three I am officially classed as a ‘geriatric mother’.

The fact I was 35 and three quarters when I actually became pregnant appears to be neither here nor there: because I’m over 35 and pregnant, medically speaking I am ‘of advanced maternal age’.

Motherhood how old is too old?

While I’ll be the first to admit motherhood has aged me in ways I never imagined, I do think the term geriatric is going a bit far. Admittedly my back creaks in ways it never used to and bending down in a certain way can be a bit of a challenge, but geriatric?

All this begs the question: how old is too old when it comes to becoming a mum?

This week it was revealed that Geri Halliwell (sorry, Horner), aka Ginger Spice, is expecting her second baby. But instead of headlines telling us ‘Ginger Spice pregnant with baby number two’ the headlines declared ‘Ginger Spice pregnant with baby number two at 44‘.

Clearly the 44 bit is considered important.

The thing is, surely timing is more important than age when it comes to having a baby.

For example, for me my 20s just wasn’t the right time to start a family. I spent my 20s establishing my career, in my 30s I was then in a position to be able to take a step back and focus on starting a family while going freelance and (just about) keep the money coming in, and in my 40s, with child bearing and breastfeeding out of the way, I will hopefully be able to focus on getting my body back and building my career again.

For Geri, 16 months after marrying her husband sounds to me like the perfect and natural time to welcome a baby, even if she is 44.

And surely lifestyle and genetics also play a part in how ‘old’ your body is, and can’t one 44 or 36-year-old be as maternally ‘fit’ as a 24 or 26-year-old?

What do you think? How old were you when you had your babies and do you think age matters?

Linking up with…

Keep Calm and Carry On Linking Sunday
Mummuddlingthrough
Best of Worst
Diary of an imperfect mum