A growing share of people are getting pregnant in their late 20s, 30s and even 40s. But it’s unclear whether the United States is prepared medically or socially to care for older first-time parents.
The day before doctors had scheduled Amanda Duffy to give birth, the baby jolted her awake with a kick. A few hours later, on that bright Sunday in November 2014, she leaned back on a park bench to watch her 19-month-old son Rogen enjoy his final day of being an only child. In that moment of calm, she realized that the kick that morning was the last time she had felt the baby move. She told herself not to worry. She had heard that babies can slow down toward the end of a pregnancy and remembered reading that sugary snacks and cold fluids can stimulate a baby’s movement. When she got back to the family’s home in suburban Minneapolis, she drank a large glass of ice water and grabbed a few Tootsie Rolls off the kitchen counter.