Percentage of all Live Births by Age of Mother, Canada, 2003 – 2013 – The Health of Canada’s Children and Youth

Percentage of all Live Births by Age of Mother, Canada, 2003 – 2013

Source: CICH graphic created using data adapted from Statistics Canada, Canadian Vital Statistics, Birth Database, Table 102-4503 Live births, by age of mother, Canada, provinces and territories, annual. http://www5.statcan.gc.ca/cansim/a26?lang=eng&retrLang=eng&id=1024503&&pattern=&stByVal=1&p1=1&p2=38&tabMode=dataTable&csid= -accessed March 15, 2017.

Between 2003 and 2013 the percentage of live births to mothers aged 30 to 34 and 35 to 39 increased.

While the percentage of live births to mothers aged 20 to 24 and 25 to 29 decreased, so did the percentage of live births to mothers aged 15 to 19 years.

Implications

The trend in increasing maternal age has far reaching repercussions for families and communities. This shift increases the likelihood that many adults will be caring for their children and their own parents during the same years. In addition, there are concerns regarding delayed childbearing and infertility. The rate of infertility in Canada, depending on the definition, varies from about 12% to 16%.¹

¹Bushnik, T., Cook, J.L., Yuzpe, A.A., Tough, S., & Collins, J., (2012).Estimating the prevalence of infertility in Canada, Human Reproduction, 27, 738-746. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22258658 -accessed July 15, 2017.