Advanced paternal age is associated with negative effects on both mothers and offspring, a recent study found. The retrospective, population-based cohort study included 40,529,905 documented live births between 2007 and 2016 in the US. Primary perinatal outcomes were gestational age, birth weight, Apgar score at 5 minutes, admission to a neonatal intensive care unit (ICU), need for postpartum antibiotics, and seizure. Primary maternal outcomes were gestational diabetes and preeclampsia. Secondary outcome was the number of preventable perinatal events. Researchers found:

• Men aged ≥45 years had increased odds of fathering infants born premature, of low birth weight, and with a low Apgar score compared with younger counterparts.
• The offspring of fathers aged ≥55 were also more likely to require assisted ventilation and admission to a neonatal ICU.
• The odds of gestational diabetes was also higher for pregnancies involving fathers aged ≥45 years.
• 13.2% of premature births and 14.5% of low birth weight infants born to older fathers were estimated to be prevented if all men elected to have children before age 45 years.