The age at which women decide they want to have children can be a sensitive topic - and British broadcaster Rachel Burden has caused quite a stir with her recent comments on the subject.
The BBC 5 Live and BBC Breakfast presenter said that her decision to have a baby at the age of 41 was a 'really selfish thing to do', although she has since suggested that what she said had been taken out of context.
But speaking to FEMAIL, other 'older mothers' have opened up about feeling 'far more relaxed' as a 40+ parent - and insisted that age doesn't 'need to come into it' if the children are 'loved, happy and healthy'.
Linzi Meaden, 49, a trauma therapist at The Meaden Clinic in Kent, was 42 when she got pregnant with twins and questions why no one ever mentions her 56-year-old husband's age.
Elsewhere, Nicola Rowley, 50, founder of UK-based
NJRPR Communications Agency, had her son James when she was 40 in 2014 after trying for three years beforehand - and said 'it would have been selfish not to have had him'.
Within 36 hours of being diagnosed with pre-eclampsia in February 2016, Rachel Burden gave birth to baby Henry (pictured) at just 31 weeks into the pregnancy
Broadcaster Ms Burden, now 49, already had three children when she became pregnant with her fourth, after discussing the idea at length with her husband, fellow journalist Luke Mendham.
Speaking to the Mid Point podcast, she revealed: 'I had three very sort of straightforward pregnancies and I made the terribly arrogant assumption I'd have a fourth baby and it would be fine and straightforward.
'And I think sometimes when I reflect on it, I think it was a really selfish thing to do. I came from a big family - I really wanted a big family. I had that moment where Luke and I sat around a table when the third child had gone to school and thought, "Oh, this is so boring".'
'Then I was 40 or 41 and I did get pregnant, and kind of said, "It will be fine, you will barely even notice it".'
But it emerged when she went for a hospital check-up that Ms Burden had 'all the signs of pre-eclampsia' - a condition that causes high blood pressure during pregnancy that can be serious if left untreated.
Within 36 hours of being diagnosed with the condition in February 2016, Ms Burden gave birth to baby Henry at just 31 weeks into the pregnancy. Thankfully, Henry 'was effectively a healthy baby - he was tiny, he was 3lb, but he was healthy'.
Reacting to an ITV snippet covering the story on This Morning, Rachel took to X to insist: 'Friends… this is not what I said, but hey ho. Probs best to listen to the whole pod for context.'
The number of women having babies over 40 has been increasing in recent years - overtaking the number of women under the age of 20 for the first time in 2015, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Pregnancies for over-40s carry a higher risk of complications such as pre-eclampsia, as well as hypertension and diabetes.
But for these women, they wouldn't change getting pregnant when they were aged 40 and over... Sally Brockway, 59Sally (pictured with her daughter Sarah), from Kingston, Surrey, who works as a copywriter and PR, said one of the best decisions she ever made was to have a baby at 41 - even though her husband didn't want any more children
Sally, from Kingston, Surrey, who works as a copywriter and PR, said one of the best decisions she ever made was to have a baby at 41 - even though her husband didn't want any more children.
'I told my husband I only had a 5 per cent chance of conceiving, so we dispensed with contraception and a month later, I was pregnant with our daughter Sarah. Thankfully, he was delighted when she arrived, a happy, healthy and beautiful baby.
'Rachel Burden said that falling pregnant at 41 was a "really selfish thing to do" because she went on to have a difficult pregnancy. I'm sorry she had such a tough experience, but perhaps it was just the luck of the draw? Some pregnancies are harder than others whatever your age.
'My third pregnancy with Sarah, 17,
https://nhanlambangcap24h.com/ was by far the easiest. I gained five stone and had terrible pelvic pains with child one, I was horribly sick with child two, but third time around, I sailed through the pregnancy and had Sarah at home in just under three hours.
'Labour one was eight hours and then 12 the second time around. Having Sarah was a breeze, so much so, she was very nearly born in the toilet. I went for a wee and to my surprise, she literally fell out and a quick-witted midwife managed to dive in and catch her.
'Of course, there were doomsayers. People wondered why on earth I was having a third child in my 40s when I already had a boy and a girl. I explained that I grew up the eldest of three and that felt like a proper family to me.
'The sleepless nights were tough, but not because of my age - they're tough for anyone. And besides, 40 really isn't old and I can say that with confidence now I'm 59.'
Lesley Thomas, 55Lesley, who lives near Salisbury in Wiltshire, with her husband Steve and two teenage sons, had her first child at 37 and her second at 40. She said she 'would never consider this selfish'
Lesley, who lives near Salisbury in Wiltshire, with her husband Steve and two teenage sons, had her first child at 37 and her second at 40. She said she 'would never consider this selfish'.
'I didn't meet my now husband until I was 35 and this was just the way things happened in terms of having our family.
'At 40, I was fit, secure in my career and financially, as well as experienced enough at life, to provide my boys with everything they needed in me as their mum. I am older now than some of their friends parents, whilst being younger than others.
'Being slightly older having my children, I had also developed more self confidence in myself and my abilities as a parent, which has served me well.
'There is no right age to have a child, the right time is when it happens, as big changes manifest in your life regardless of how old you are.
'I was fortunate I had absolutely no problems in getting pregnant, and was really excited, as was my husband on both occasions I became pregnant.
'Do I feel I have less energy than younger mums, how would I know? I became a mum at 37 and again at 40, and whilst the early months were exhausting both times around, I think they are at any age of having children. I would never compare myself to other mums, no matter how old, as personal circumstances are just that.
'But I had the benefit of being confident enough to ask questions when I didn't know the answer. 'When we have children, is personal to everyone, and for me, having mine at the age I did was perfect and I would not change it. And if I were to ask my boys the same question, I know they would say the same thing.'
Lesley is the founder of The Money Confidence Academy, supporting children with Financial Literacy and a creating a confident relationship with money.
Linzi Meaden, 49 Linzi was 42 when she got pregnant with twins and said she loves being an 'older mother' Linzi was 42 when she got pregnant with twins and said she loves being an 'older mother'.'The BBC's Rachel Burden says she was "really selfish" to have a baby at 41 and that's her choice to have that belief based on her own experience.
'She wasn't to know that she would develop pre-eclampsia and it's not a condition that only effects "older mothers".
'Many of my friends in their 30s developed this during pregnancy. I was 42 when I got pregnant with twins; I'll be 50 in a couple of weeks and the twins are now seven.