The proportion of women over 30 giving birth for the first time doubled between 1983 and 1999, new Statistics Canada data indicate.
In 1983, only 14% of first-time mothers were 30 years or older. By 1999, the proportion was 32%. First-time fathers are also getting older. In 1983, men 30 and older fathered 32% of the babies born to first-time mothers; by 1999, this proportion had increased to 51%.
Women 30 or older now account for almost 55% of all multiple births.
The overall number of multiple births is rising too; they accounted for 2.7% of total births in 1999, up from 1.8% in 1979. Since 1979, the number of babies born via multiple births has increased by 35%, while the total number of births has decreased by 7.7%. Recently, this trend has accelerated. Between 1993 and 1999 the number of multiple births increased by 12.5%, while the total number of births declined by 13.2%. In 1999, 53% of babies delivered during multiple births were born prematurely, compared with 7% of babies in single births.
In all, 337 249 babies were born in Canada in 1999, a 1.5% decline from 1998.