In early 2025, births to women in their 30s rose, while births to under-25s fell quarter-on-quarter. A new analysis of ONS data, collated by Fertility Family, has revealed a shift in the age at which women in England are having children – with older motherhood rising, while births among younger women continue to decline. I was 5 days from my 41st birthday when I had my third child, my daughter in November 2021.
The 30–34 age group now accounts for 35% of all births, making it the ‘peak age range’ for having a baby in England.
Meanwhile, over 1 in 4 (26.7%) of all births in England are now to mothers aged 35 and over, marking one of the highest proportions on record.
By contrast, the number of babies born to younger mothers continues to fall, with those under-25 accounting for just 13.1% of births.
Analysing data between January and June 2025, quarter-on-quarter, births to women aged 45 and over rose by 6.8%, while births to women under 25 continued to fall – highlighting the widening gap between older and younger parenthood.
The upward trend in older motherhood reflects a long-term pattern, with women increasingly choosing to have children later in life. Rising birth rates among women aged 35–39 and 40+ now contrast sharply with continued declines among women under 30.
Dr Gillian Lockwood, age-related fertility specialist at Fertility Family, says:
‘A decade is a long time in reproductive terms. The early 30s are just like the 20s, but the late 30s can be a little different. While female fertility does gradually decline from the mid-30s, it does not ‘fall off a cliff’. A woman’s age is just one of many factors that influence the chance of getting pregnant, and it is not the most important!
Miscarriage differs from the 20s to the late 30s. The miscarriage rate for women conceiving in their 20s is about 10-15%. As a woman moves through her 30s, the miscarriage rate rises until it is 35-40% at the age of 40, whilst it also takes longer to get pregnant. However, the vast majority of couples will get successfully pregnant without any outside help, and for the others, modern fertility medicine is very successful.’
Notes:
Methodology
Analysis was conducted using the ONS provisional birth data for January to June 2025.
All calculations were restricted to rows where Ethnicity = All ethnic groups, IMD = All groups, and Gestational age = All gestational ages, ensuring no demographic factors other than age were influencing results.
Live birth counts for each maternal age band were extracted for both quarters (January–March and April–June), then summed to produce half-year totals.
Quarter-on-quarter percentage changes were calculated using the raw live birth counts for each age band. The proportion of total births attributed to each age group was computed by dividing each group’s summed birth count by the total live births across all ages for the period.
About Fertility Family
Fertility Family is brought to you by Health Medica Ltd, a UK healthcare company that, over the years, has partnered with Fertility Network UK and the British Fertility Society. Their range of high-quality products is recommended by specialists across the UK to increase your chances of having a baby. Founder, Terry Sullivan, has specialised in reproductive health for over 40 years. Working with the top specialists, Terry helped to build fertility treatment in the UK, raising awareness and encouraging NHS funding. Using their experience in the field, they have found carefully formulated products that have gone through clinical trials and are scientifically proven to help improve the chances of having a baby.
