Average age for new mums soars in Queensland as 52-year-old gives birth Almost one in 10 babies born in Queensland are premature, adding pressure to already stretched neonatal intensive care services. THE rise of the middle-aged mother is believed to be behind a rapid increase in the number of premature babies being born in Queensland. Statistics show the rate of Queensland women aged 35 years or older having babies has quadrupled in the past decade, with women as old as 52 giving birth. Almost one in 10 babies born in Queensland are premature, making it the highest rate in the country and putting more pressure on already-exhausted neonatal intensive care services. Queensland Fertility Group research director Dr Anusch Yazdani said maternal age was likely to be a contributing factor to premature births. "The median age of a woman having her first baby was probably at its oldest about three years ago, sitting at 31 and a bit," he said. As women get older they're much more likely to have complications during their pregnancy, pre-eclampsia, smaller children, diabetes and (their babies are) more likely to be delivered by caesarean section. So, for all of those sort of reasons, prematurity increases in that age group. More than 12,000 women giving birth in Queensland in 2009 were at least 35 years old, up from 3140 in 1988, according to Queensland Health documents obtained by The Courier-Mail under Right to Information laws. Dr Yazdani said the definition of "advanced maternal age" had gone up. "Until a few years ago, the definition of advanced maternal age was 35 and now we're actually considering 40," he said. The oldest mother we had has been 52, but this is a donor. Eve Health and Mater Mothers' Hospital obstetrician Dr Paul Conaghan said the reasons behind 50-60 per cent of babies born prematurely were unknown. "While there is always a proportion of bad luck, as pregnancies become more complicated and we have women with more complex medical issues in pregnancy, it's probably those women who are contributing to the increase to our rates in prematurity," Dr Conaghan said. We are seeing more babies delivered prior to 37 weeks and I suspect a large part of that comes from the maternal age issue. Intensive care unit workload risks premmy babies - Born at just 374g, Queensland's 'coke can baby' turns 21 on Wednesday AMA says resource shortage putting newborns at risk Queensland peri-natal data, also obtained under RTI laws, shows 8.2 per cent of babies born in Australia in 2006 were preterm, with 6.4 per cent weighing less than 2500g at birth. Queensland's preterm birthrate that same year was 9 per cent and between 2000 and 2009, 26,630 women (5 per cent) gave birth at less than 36 weeks gestation. There was also a "noticeable increase in the 36-38 week cohort, likely to be at least partially attributable to rising rates of elective caesarean section," Queensland Health documents stated. Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital neonatologist Dr Pieter Koorts said medical professionals were "pushing the boundaries" in terms of saving babies who were just over halfway through their 40-week gestation. "A couple of years ago, it was 26 weeks and then 24, and nowadays even 23," he said. We only have a handful of 23-weekers every year (but) it's the late preterms, 32/34 weeks, that still end up needing hospital admission, they make up the biggest bulk of delivery every year. I think if somebody could reduce preterm births, they'd win the Nobel prize. The Courier-Mail revealed yesterday a Queensland Health report showed intensive care units at Queensland hospitals were operating "well beyond what is considered a safe workload." In 2011-12, 8634 sick and premature babies were admitted to Queensland public hospital acute newborn care facilities, neonatal intensive care units or special care nurseries. This is 536 more than the previous year and 1168 more than five years ago, according to Queensland Health. Of those, 7716 were discharged home, 882 were transferred to another facility and 36 died. In 2010/11, the newborn death rate peaked at 68, the worst in five years.