More women than ever in Liverpool are giving birth over the age of 45.
The number of mums having babies in their 40s has hit record levels with 220 children being born to women in their fifth decade.
New figures revealed that the numbers, from 2018, had increased from 211 in 2017 and just 193 in 2016.
This means that 3.8 per cent of all births in Liverpool were to mums aged over 40 last year, or roughly one in every 27.
The data - published by the Office for National Statistics - shows it isn’t just early fortysomethings driving the increase.
There were also 17 live births to mums aged over 45 - up from 13 in 2017, 15 in 2016, and just eight in 2015.
While these much older mothers still accounted for only a tiny fraction of the 5,863 total births in Liverpool last year, the proportion is rising.
The trend of rising numbers of older mothers is not confined to our city.
Across England and Wales, 4.4 per cent of live births in 2018 were to mums aged over 40.
That was up from 4.3 per cent in 2017 and 2016, and 4.2 per cent in 2015, 2014 and 2013.
The total number of births has been falling, however, as we - as a nation - have fewer children overall.
There were only 656,925 live births recorded in 2018 - down from 678,970 in 2017 and 696,093 in 2016.
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Email jenny.kirkham@reachplc.com
It means the birth rate has dropped by nearly six per cent in just two years which means that women are having fewer children overall - as well as having them later in life.
Births to older women are most common in affluent parts of London, the data shows.
In Kensington and Chelsea, 10.8 per cent of all live births last year - more than one in 10 - were to women aged over 40.
In Richmond upon Thames it was 10.1 per cent, in Westminster 9.3 per cent, and in Camden 8.7 per cent.
Brighton and Hove had the highest rate of any city outside London, at 8.0 per cent.
The lowest rates are in relatively deprived parts of England and Wales.
In Merthyr Tydfil - the place with the lowest rate of births to older mums - only 1.9 per cent of live births are to over 40s.
In North East Lincolnshire it is 2.0 per cent and in Kingston upon Hull 2.1 per cent.
