Psychological well-being and adaptation to motherhood in women with advanced reproductive age.

In most developed countries, women have been increasingly delaying childbearing to later in life which ultimately leads to rising birth rates among older women (Daly & Bewley, 2013). Whilst there is a plethora of evidence, to illustrate the higher rates of medical complications in mothers of advanced reproductive age (Joseph et al., 2005; Schmidt, 2012), there is less known about their experience of pregnancy and childbirth. The overall aim of the research is twofold. Firstly, to study women with advanced reproductive age and their psychological wellbeing during pregnancy, childbirth and the postnatal period. Secondly, to compare the psychological wellbeing of women with advanced reproductive age, with a group of women with a non-advanced reproductive age. This study has a quantitative, non-experimental, longitudinal, prospective design. Keywords: Pregnancy; Psychological well-being; Advanced Reproductive Age; Motherhood; Anxiety